


A Missing Peace

by illegalmushrooms



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hunter Exam (Hunter X Hunter), Hunter X Hunter Spoilers, I didn't read the manga sorry, Nen (Hunter X Hunter), Post-Canon, Tags Are Hard, theremightberomancebutitsnotthemainfocusoftheplotimsorrydonthateme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illegalmushrooms/pseuds/illegalmushrooms
Summary: When Anise wakes up in a hospital bed without a single memory except for her name, she learns that her life had been saved- by someone named Ging Freecss. Searching for her supposed savior and the truth of her former life, Anise finds herself entangled in a plot far more complex than anticipated in a strange world of Hunters.[OC, after anime]
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. A Name and Amnesia

**Author's Note:**

> First posted fan fiction, probably terrible, writing for myself and for fun XD  
> Bear with me please!  
> Haven't actually read the manga yet so I'll be going off my own interpretation of what might have happened after Chimera Ants/Election Arc.  
> Going to crosspost to FF.net, although probably post here first. I like the layout a little better.

Waking up had never felt better.

I don’t think, if I was asked, I would even be able to express the delight the flooded my system when the first sunbeams of light hit my newly opened eyes. Light. Sky. A breath of fresh air- I knew I was awake, and yet it felt like I was still dreaming, still simmering in that pool of endless sleep.

Someone was arranging flowers. They had their back to me, humming a slight tune as the petals were maneuvered in the plain ceramic vase. I cleared my throat, in part to gain the flower-arranger’s attention, but also because it felt like I hadn’t had the chance to drink in ages.

The figure flinched and whipped a head to face me. My eyes struggled to focus on the soft features of the woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform, who quickly threw a hand over her mouth in shock.

“You’re awake!”

My face cracked into a smile, as it seemed like the only appropriate thing to do. “I am!”

She rushed over to me, the flower drooping back into the vase from the lack of her touch. “Doc, she’s up!” The nurse called out the door. I could hear footsteps coming from that direction.

“Standard procedure… I don’t know the procedure!” The nurse’s voice seemed uncertain. “Do you… um… remember anything?”

I blinked in confusion. For some reason, I hadn’t even considered anything other than the nurse and her flowers in my small time of consciousness. Now that I was prompted, it took only a few seconds for me to realize that I did not, in fact, remember anything. What ‘anything’ was, I didn’t even know- reaching back into the depths of my mind only yielded a blank.

“Is it amnesia? Oh, no, um…” The kindly nurse fiddled with the sheets on my bed. “That’s right, I’ll get you a mirror…”

A mirror? Yes, that’s right. I thought about what image I would see when I tried looking into one, but yet again my mind failed to come up with anything concrete. The nurse pulled out a small plastic hand mirror that reeked of medical disinfectant and handed it to me with slightly shaking hands.

Looking into the mirror felt more like viewing a photograph than seeing myself. I knew it was me- who else could it be?- but there seemed to be something wrong, something so fundamentally wrong with the mess of hair that was staring back at me.

“Do you remember now?” The nurse asked unhelpfully. It wasn’t a ‘remember’, but more of an ‘understand’, I thought. That image in the mirror was me. I could connect a name to that face as well, a name that sounded foreign in my own thoughts but could only be right.

“Anise.” voicing it aloud felt stranger. “My name… is Anise, right? How… did I get here?”

“Oh!” The nurse didn’t seem to know how to reply. She was looking around nervously, her eyes glancing over every few seconds to look at the static door. “You were a victim of the factory explosion down in Aspen.”

Her words meant nothing to me, but I nodded along, letting my blank mind absorb the information she was providing.

“It’s a miracle you’re alive, really.” the nurse rambled on, “That explosion wiped out everyone in a two-mile radius. It’s thanks to that Hunter that you survived at all.”

Hunter? The word held meaning, but the significance of the word seemed too much for my blank mind to comprehend. Hunter, Hunter… Hunter? Where had I heard that before? What did it mean?

The nurse kept going on. “You were in such rough shape when you arrived, I think the Doc nearly had a heart attack. But the Hunter gave you the emergency treatment that saved you. He was so cool!”

“Who was it that saved me?” I asked.

It was like my mouth spoke without the consent of my brain, and I realized in the moment that the words following this question had the capacity to change my life.

The nurse paused.

“Let's see, I think his name was… Ging Freecss.”


	2. The Blacklist Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anise is learning more about the world she has forgotten... where did she come from? What really happened in Aspen? And who has just saved her from trouble in the street, who might be a big clue to Ging?

I waited for the rambling nurse (who I came to learn in the middle of her narrative was an intern for the understaffed medical center I was currently resting in) to depart with a hasty “I’ll go and grab the Doc!” before I began to plan out my moves. The first logical step seemed to be assessing the situation. My physical condition seemed oddly perfect- whatever "rough condition" I had been brought in as seemed completely cured. For clothes, I was wearing a button up shirt with some medical logo, paired with oversize drawstring pants. I wondered how I would look walking around, with unbrushed hair and a hospital jumpsuit- perhaps I’d look like another escaped crazy. 

Escape. That was my next idea. I didn’t exactly know why, but suddenly it seemed very important for me to get out of here. I eyed the vase of half-arranged flowers, and behind it, a wide window that offered me a sight of green grass, trees, and skies beyond.

I stumbled out of bed, testing my legs one at a time before trusting my entire body weight to them. Hospital slippers were the best I could do to adorn my feet as I climbed onto the unstable counter in front of the window. Surely there was a lock on here somewhere.

The latch unsnapped at once and I pulled the window open. A gentle breeze hit me, and I felt nearly intoxicated by the smell of the outdoors. In one fell swoop, I ducked out the window and landed onto dewy grass.

The next most logical step, of course, was to run.

I most definitely looked insane, a hairy monster in baggy hospital gear running full speed into nowhere, but now was not the time to worry about my looks. The intern’s voice was still ringing in my ears. Ging Freecss.

At that moment, I was only sure of two things. The first was that my life had been saved by a man named Ging Freecss. The second? All of my memories were gone.

It took me only a few minutes of running to realize that beyond my escape, I had no plan. There was not a single coin to my name, and no memory of where I might have once called home. A sense of panic started to set in. What was I supposed to do now? I slowed to a stop.

I thought back to the intern again, who had said something about a “factory explosion down in Aspen.” That was apparently the site of my near-death. Surely some clues would arise in “Aspen”, wherever that was. And the Hunter… Ging Freecss, that was a name now burned into my head. I had to find him. Maybe it was just to thank him, I wasn’t sure, but some part of me was sure that I was supposed to find him, and that he could answer all of these questions. Even if it was just a hunch, I felt certain that the key to unlocking my past- and the memories that came with it- were with that man.

My first hurdle was going to be getting some money and changing out of this attire. But how? That seemed easier said than done. I rested against a thick tree, facing away from the direction I had run from, as I conjured up ideas. 

The most ideal situation would be for the mysterious Ging Freecss to appear in front of me, right here and right now, and give me all the answers my soul desired, but somehow this series of events did not seem even remotely possible. I needed to know more, though, so for the moment, a newspaper might suffice. Perhaps it would provide me some information on the explosion in Aspen that I had supposedly come from.

To get a newspaper would require some sort of trash deposit, and my imagination conjured up images of shady alleyways of overturned trash bins and cigarette butts. That was probably just my mind running wild, but I smiled just a bit, relieved that at least my imagination was working fine.

I began to follow along a road that seemed to stretch out as far as I could see. The medical center that I had been housed in seemed to be a one-off building on the side of this highway, and the buildings around me were scarce. No place seemed inconspicuous enough for me to drop my trek and explore, so I spent the better part of an hour walking in a straight line down the highway. Every once and a while, a car or two would pass by, but no one gave me more than a fleeting glance.

Eventually, what looked like some other form of civilization came into sight. It was definitely some kind of suburb, although the streets were a little more deserted than I had hoped. Pavements were run-down and signs adorning shop storefronts flickered. I kept my eyes open for any flyaway newspapers or suspicious alleyways.

And then, as if ripped directly from my own imagination, I came across the gap between a brick-laid building and a convenience store. It was dramatically dark and mysterious, and I suppressed a giggle as I tiptoed into the small opening. A large blue dumpster was resting perfectly in the space between the two buildings’ walls.

And so began the hunt. I was reminded of the term the intern had given me, “Hunter”, as I prowled through the large metal dump. It took me only a few seconds to uncover a newspaper, which I excitedly smoothed out onto the ground and squatted down to read the bold headlines.

FACTORY EXPLOSION WIPES OUT ASPEN, FEW SURVIVE.

My eyes narrowed as they continued along the article. Apparently, Aspen was a small community built around an industrial factory, and many families settled there residentially. The article as a whole seemed to be mostly overblown facts about Aspen itself, and not much information was presented on the explosion. I sighed and got back to digging through the dumpster, looking for another newspaper issue.

A promising headline on another paper caught my eye and I yanked it out of the trash pile, quickly scanning the article.

HUNTERS DISPATCHED TO ASPEN EXPLOSION FOR INVESTIGATION

“After an industrial factory located in Aspen had a deadly explosion, the Hunter Association dispatched a group of Hunters to investigate the situation. The explosion was first attributed to an accident, but rumors arise that the factory was purposefully set up by the notorious Phantom Troupe.” I read aloud softly to myself. Hunters must be important, I reckoned, if they were getting sent off to deal with these kinds of situations. And Ging Freecss was one of them, right? I scoured the rest of the article, hoping for mentions of the name Ging, but there seemed to be no further information beyond what was provided in the opening lines. I sighed and crumpled the newspaper into a ball in my hands.

Just as I was about to leave my little nook in the alleyway, the sound of loud footsteps frightened me to my spot. Two male voices were talking, and loudly, too.

“You’re signing up for the Hunter Exam, aren’t you?” grumbled the voice of one of them. I huddled myself into the shadows of the alley as I listened carefully.

“Of course I am. Last year, everyone got crushed by some kid in the first phase.” came the voice of the second. “There’s no way I’m gonna let that happen again this year.”

“The registration deadline is soon, though.” the first voice, again. 

“Well…” The voices faded away as they passed by my alley and walked off. I simply squatted against the brick wall and recounted the new information I had just gathered. An exam, huh? So you could take some sort of test to become a Hunter. If a kid was allowed in, then that must mean the exam was open to just about anyone, right? I made my decision in a split second and jolted to my feet.

“Hey, wait!” I called after the two men who had just passed by. “Wait!”

They looked back, faces morphing into curiosity as they realized the sound came from me. I quickly came to a halt as I realized how intimidating they looked, with gruff unshaven beards and small, harrowing eyes that seemed to beam right into me. 

“Whaddya want, kid?” The first man asked.

“That Hunter Exam you just mentioned.” I said, before I could run out of courage. “Um… can you tell me more about it?”

The second guy scoffed. “Well, it’s obvious, aint it? You’re just a kid, go back home.”

“I can’t. I came from the hospital.” I said, either defiantly or stupidly. The two guys laughed some more, but I kept at it.

“Can you at least tell me where I can- where I can-” I stumbled over my words.

“Look, I feel bad for ya, kid, I really do.” The first guy said. “But why don’t ya just shut up and run along?”

My bottom lip trembled. “Please, please, just tell me!”

“You know what we do to annoying little brats like you?” the second guy started to crack his knuckles, with a menacing sound that pierced the air. “We shut them up, that’s what.”

Oh, no. I’ve really done it this time. I backed away, but found myself backing right into the alleyway, which was definitely the wrong move in this situation, but my feet seemed to be working on their own. After having just woken up, was I already going to die?

I kept on backing into the alley until a slight metal clang alerted me that I had reached the dumpster. This was the end. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared for the worst.

What I didn’t prepare for was a loud shout of “Get away from her!” and the sound of something loud hitting the dumpster. My eyes were still glued shut as I trembled in fear. What was going on? I was too scared to move an inch from my spot until the sounds of action died away.

“Are you okay?” It was a soft, feminine voice, a voice that seemed as smooth and sweet as honey, and comforted me to the extent that my eyelids flickered open.

“Th-thank you.” I calmed my nerves and focused on what was in front of me. A tall, female figure was crouching in front of me, carrying with her the strange scent of motor oil and lavender.

“Geez, how does a kid like you get mixed up with some street thugs?” She sighed, touching a strand of her own blue hair which had fallen out of place from one of the two perfect hair buns that rested on her head. 

I glanced behind her, and saw the two men lying unconscious on the ground. “I’m not a kid.” I mumbled. Why does everyone keep saying that? I knew that I was definitely a teenager, although the exact age was hazy in my mind. Did I really look that young?

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Name’s Ember. I’m a Blacklist Hunter.” She pulled out a card and rested it in her palm to show me. It was embossed with a logo of two Xs right next to each other, a logo that seemed vaguely familiar but I couldn’t specify where I had seen it before.

“A Hunter.” I stared at the card, the first and biggest clue to Ging I had uncovered so far. 

“Yup, that’s me.” Ember said. “And-”

“My name’s Anise.” I introduced myself eagerly. “Can you tell me more about that? Hunters?”

Ember blinked in surprise. “Sure, I guess.” She pulled over a trash can and flipped it upside down to create a makeshift seat, spilling out a few rotted vegetables in the process. “I don’t have anywhere to be yet, anyway. What do you want to know?”

“Those guys were mentioning something about an exam, a Hunter Exam.” I gestured to the unconscious forms at the entryway to the alley. 

“Oh, you don’t know about the Hunter Exam?” Ember pulled out something else and handed it to me. “Here, it’s a Hunter Exam registration card, if you’re interested. The deadline is the end of December.” 

She tapped the top of the card with one of her long nails. “It’s, y’know, the the exam to become a Hunter. There’s all sorts of cool benefits to having your license. Like, money, and fame, and-”

“Do you know someone named Ging Freecss?”

The Blacklist Hunter froze. The name seemed to have struck a cord with her.

“Why do you need to know?” Ember retracted her Hunter license and eyed me with a new gaze. 

“Because…” I wasn’t sure how much I should say, but something about Ember’s warm eyes made me want to tell her everything. “He saved my life, I think.”

Ember stood up. “Let’s talk somewhere else.” She gazed down at the two bodies she had incapacitated only a few minutes ago. “Come on.”


	3. A Punch to the Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember has taken a liking to Anise, and seems to have some crucial information about Ging. It seems that Ging is not the person Anise believed he was. Does the next clue lie in the man named Leorio?

Half an hour later, Ember and I were sitting across from each other in the booth of a homely cafe, a cup of coffee cradled in my hands and a fresh set of clothing gracing my body. One of the first things Ember had done was march me into a thrift store and equip me with a new look, bossily commanding that I try on different outfits. I even had a new pair of shoes, sleek black combat boots that Ember promised me I could keep.

“Thank you for being so nice to me.” I thanked her yet again as I took a sip of the hot coffee. The piping hot drink reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in what seemed like forever, and my stomach growled for emphasis.

“It’s fine.” Ember waved it off. “Let’s order some snacks, too.” She flagged down the waiter, and before I could stop her, proceeded to order the entire menu, with no regards to the price.

“Ember! Um, are you sure? I-”

“Like I said, it’s fine.” She dragged out the word. “You remind me of my little sister, kinda. It makes me want to spoil you”

“I do?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah. Well, I think so, anyway. She’s… not around anymore” The mood dropped drastically at these words. 

I didn’t know what to say as Ember glumly traced the rim of her coffee cup with the tip of her finger. “Oh- I’m sorry to hear that.” I said quietly.

“Well, I’m sorry, too.” Ember said. “I became a Hunter just for her. A Blacklist Hunter is a bounty hunter, we specialize in tracking down criminals. At first, I was hoping to get revenge on the Phantom Troupe for murdering her, but…”

“Wait, wait. Phantom Troupe?” I remembered the name from the newspaper article. 

“Yeah. They’re this group of bandits, I guess.” Ember said. “It’s been a long time, though. I’m not as angry as I used to be.”

We sat in silence for a moment, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Eventually Ember cleared her throat.

“So, what’s this about Ging Freecss?”

I hesitated before I continued, not sure where to start. “I have amnesia. I think. I can’t remember much before today. You probably noticed I came from a hospital… They said I was rescued from the Aspen factory explosion.”

Ember gasped. “Aspen? But I was dispatched for that!” she scrunched her nose. “In fact, that’s why I’m here. The Hunter Association got a tip-off that the Phantom Troupe was involved in this big explosion. But I don’t remember seeing any survivors.”

“Wasn’t Ging there with you, though? They said that he was the one who rescued me!”

Ember tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Ging definitely wasn’t with us, I can guarantee that. Look, even in the Hunter Association, Ging is sort of an enigma. No one knows where he is most of the time.”

She paused as the snacks she ordered earlier were served to us. I immediately dug in, with Ember quick to follow suit.

Once I finished stuffing myself with plates of garlic bread and garden salad, I started talking. “Then, how can I find him?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Ember admitted. “I’ve only met him once, actually, when we were electing the next chairman, and I think that’s the last time anyone’s seen him in public. But, Anise- are you sure that he’s the one who saved you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.

“Well, from what I’ve heard about Ging… He doesn’t exactly seem like the hero type.” Ember shrugged. “He’s a high-ranked Hunter, for sure, but he’s not exactly well-liked.”

I didn’t know what to think after hearing this information. All I had to go on was the name “Ging Freecss”- but was there really a possibility that this man wasn’t connected at all?

No. I told myself. I can’t let my determination falter. Well, I didn’t want to believe that it wasn’t Ging. It was much easier to attribute all of the answers I needed with this one man, this one figure. 

Ember seemed to notice my expression. “Well, alright, I do have one thing for you.” She pulled out her phone and tapped away before sliding it across the table for me to see.

“What’s this?” I asked, looking closely.

“It’s a video. Watch it.” Ember took a long drink from her coffee mug. 

The screen showed a young man in a suit standing at some sort of podium, speaking into a microphone. There were a whole lot of people behind him. “I’m Leorio, from the 287th class. I have a question for that guy named Ging.”

Ging! Would I get to see the face of the person who saved my life? I watched eagerly. 

“Why haven’t you gone to visit Gon?” The man, Leorio, continued. “You must know his current condition!” 

The crowd in the video grew uneasy, and finally, the camera panned to… Ging?

The man looked a lot more rat-like than the vision I had built up in my head. Instead of some wonderful hero with a flowing cape, my eyes were met with mousy looking thirty year old with an messy hat and a stubble. 

Ging raised his hand and picked up the microphone at the table he was sitting at. “First, what is your relationship to Gon?” He asked, in a tone that could almost be described as bored. His voice struck me as familiar. I had a brief moment to wonder who this “Gon” was.

“We’re buddies.” Leorio responded confidently.

“Oh… I appreciate it. I hope you’ll stay friends with him. That’s all.”

I still wasn’t sure what exactly I was watching, or why Ember decided to show this to me.

“Answer my question! Or just go visit him!” Leorio was getting fired up, slamming the podium with his hand. “Go visit Gon!”

“I’ve heard he has a number of friends like you. That should suffice.” Ging stated calmly. Even I, with no context of the situation, was getting a little pissed off at the man who was supposed to be my savior.

“Don’t give me that bull!” Leorio yelled. “Do you have any idea how much Gon wants to see you? If you talk to him, he might recover!”

“Did he say… that he wanted me to visit?” Ging asked. I gritted my teeth. I kind of wanted to punch this guy, actually. 

It seemed Leorio shared my thoughts. “You damned bastard!” Out of nowhere, he fiercely punched down the podium, and then- somehow, inexplicably- the punch travelled to nab Ging right in the jaw, even all that distance away. The video cut at this point, showing me the punch from different angles, but I still couldn’t figure out how Leorio had managed to do it. 

“You can go to hell!” Leorio yelled as a finishing remark, and the entire room he was in erupted into cheers. The video ended, with me left puzzled beyond belief.

Ember snickered. “I love that video.” she said. “I voted Leorio for chairman after I saw that.”

“So this is Ging, huh.” I scrolled the video back to look at his face again. “This is the person who… who saved my life… Somehow, he seems different than I expected.”

“See what I mean? Ooh, look, you can see me in the background!” She paused the video at a certain time and pointed to a blur in the audience. “See, that’s me!”

I humbled her by looking as well, where it was just possible to make out her blue hair in the crowd. “That’s great, Ember.” I said, “Um, who’s Gon?”

“Oh, that’s his son. He’s like, 13”

“He has a son?” I didn’t know why that shocked me, but as I scrutinized the picture again, he just didn’t seem, well, like a dad. “Was he in the hospital or something?”

“Yeah. I don’t suppose you know about what happened in NGL?”

“NGL?” I repeated.

“I’ll take that as a no. Well, it’s a long story anyway, but his son, Gon, was part of the Hunter team to take down these things called Chimera Ants.”

“Chimera Ants? And wait, his 13-year old son is a Hunter? Isn’t that-”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules.” Ember said. “You’re eligible to take the Hunter Exam once you’re 12.”

Those two guys earlier also mentioned something about a kid at the Hunter Exam. It seemed like I still had a lot more to learn… and a lot more children to fear.

“Also…” I scrolled the video to the exact moment where the guy named Leorio punched Ging in the face. “I don’t understand how he did this. How did he punch him when he’s allll the way over here?”

“Uhh, well…” Ember bit her lip. “That’s right, this was… I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you about Nen…”

“Nen?” The name seemed familiar, just as many other things were. “Nen… that sounds really familiar…”

“It does? Oh, thank God, then I don’t have to feel bad.” Ember sighed. “You know, it’s like, aura and stuff. I can’t explain, don’t know how to and don’t want to.”

That cleared up absolutely nothing at all, but I decided to leave it alone for the moment. “So, nen can allow you to punch someone from far away?”

“It can do a lot of things, actually! Personally, I’m an Emitter. And, look!” she pointed her hand to a glass of water sitting on the tabletop, and a second later the water turned a deep blue color that almost perfectly matched her hair color.

“Oh!” I stared at the new water. “It’s like magic!”

Ember sat back proudly. “Usually, it’s Hunters are consciously using nen. So.” she said pointedly, “If you want to do cool things too, take the Hunter Exam!”

“Why do I feel like you’re advertising it to me…” I chuckled. “I’m not very smart, I don’t think I can pass any kind of test…”

“It’s not that kind of test.” Ember laughed. “It’s like, hmm, an evaluation. There’s a bunch of different phases, and you demonstrate strength, willpower, that kind of stuff.”

“Still, I’m really not that strong.” I told her. I locked my fingers together. “I told you, I have some amnesia, so I don’t really remember much of my life before.”

Ember sighed. “Still, I think you should consider it. I think you’ve got some potential, if I do say so myself.” She wiped the last snack plate clean and stacked them at the edge of the table. 

“Sorry I can’t help you any further.” Ember said, paying the bill with a large sum of money. “I really have no clue where Ging is.”

“That’s alright.” I handed her back her phone. “I think I should start by finding his son. Do you know-?”

“Nope.” Ember fessed up immediately. “He went off the radar around the same time Ging did.”

“Oh… then, what about this guy, Leorio?” I pointed at the phone. “He seems to know Gon pretty well.”

“If I remember correctly, Gon said Leorio was studying to be a doctor. For that, searching the internet may be your best bet.” Ember stood up, stretched her arms, and yanked me to my feet. We exited the cafe and started down the street. “Anise, do you need anything else? I should probably get back to my team soon.” 

The sun was starting to set, but I felt guilty for asking so much from Ember. “It’s fine, really. Thank you so, so much for everything.”

“Of course! Keep in touch, alright? Here, I’ll give you my number-” she reached for her phone.

“Um, I don’t have a phone…” I scratched the back of my head. 

Ember gasped. “No phone? Poor you! Here, wait…” she shuffled around a bit more shoved something into my hand. It was a bit clunky, but I recognized that it as a cell phone, and a pretty decent one at that.

“I can’t possibly accept this!” I fretted, holding the phone in my hand as if it were a precious gold bar.

“Naw, that’s just a burner phone.” Ember waved it off. “I’ve been meaning to get a new one anyway. Here, I’ll put my number in for you.”

I felt a tear spring to my eye and surprised myself with my own emotions.

“What’s wrong?” Ember asked.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never- you are so kind.” It took a lot of effort not to break into full-on sobs. 

“Aww, shucks, there’s no need to say that.” Ember blushed and handed me back the phone. “You’re just humbling me. Oh, and one more thing, if you need a place to stay… my family home is actually in this area.” She gave me some quick directions and handed me a small, worn out pouch attached to a string. 

“Show that to them, and say that Ember sent you.” She began to walk off. “It was nice meeting ya, Anise!”

“Wait!” I called out, holding up the pouch. “This seems important! Are you sure you should just leave it with me?” 

Ember smiled. “You can return it once you become a Hunter, too!” she said, and then her profile grew smaller and smaller as she ran out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Kurapika isn't the only person with a grudge against the Phantom Troupe! I think Ember will come back in a big way... Do people this nice really exist?  
> Also, I think this is Gon's first mention. Something fishy's going on for sure.   
> And Anise gets to see Nen in action for the first time! Cool stuff.


	4. Merry and Leorio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anise learns more about Ember and seeks the help of the man called Leorio, who prompts her to take the Hunter Exam. And what's wrong with Gon, Ging's son?

The sun had almost completely set on the horizon when I strolled up to a double-storey family home with cottage trimmings and a small, cared-for flower garden. I could just about see the lights on inside through the white curtains, and the shadows of people moving around. I bit the bullet and knocked on the heavy wooden door, holding my breath in anticipation.

“Who is it?” A motherly-looking woman answered the door, peering down at me. “Good evening.”

“Hi! My name is… Anise, and, um, Ember sent me here?” I stuttered, retrieving the pouch that she had given me and lifting it to show the woman. Her eyes widened, and she hurried to open the door further.

“Come in, come in, make yourself at home” I was ushered inside, and before I knew it I was seated on a squishy couch. The woman, who I presumed to be Ember’s mother, bustled around the kitchen, mumbling something. I felt like a foreign entity in this warm, happy, family environment, especially without knowing the whereabouts of my own. As I sat there, gazing around at the different framed family photos, I wondered for the first time if I even had a family. Where they with me in Aspen? If so… were they also killed in that explosion?

The walls were covered in pictures, and I recognized Ember in a majority of them. She seemed like a shining star. A certain portrait that caught my eye depicted her holding out that card with the Hunter Association’s logo - her Hunter license - with a proud grin on her face. Other notable figures in the various pictures were Ember’s assumed mother and father, and a young girl with long hair. Was this Ember’s sister, the one that I was supposed to resemble? I looked closer at the photo, trying to see any similarities, but I was already forgetting my own appearance. 

“That’s Merry.” I startled as the woman sat down next to me, holding a cup of tea in her hands. Even though I was still hyped up from earlier’s coffee, I accepted the teacup anyway, taking a few sips. The taste was warm and sweet, and somehow tasted like the abstract concept of home, although I only just barely had a grasp on what that word really meant.

“Merry?” I politely questioned. 

“My daughter. She… she died, many years ago. Ember was never the same after that.” I nodded along sympathetically, not sure of what to say. My hands found themselves fiddling with the string on the small pouch I had received from Ember.

“Ember said… that she became a Hunter because of that.” I spoke with caution, worried of any potential landmines, but the woman’s face was still as relaxed as before. “I met her just today, but she was so incredibly kind to me. I’m sure Merry was just as wonderful.”

“She was indeed. Do you know what that pouch is?” Ember’s mother pointed to the pouch I was cradling in my hands.

“Not really.” I held it up again, wondering what significance it might hold.

“When Merry took the Hunter Exam, she gave that to Ember before she left. It’s a talisman, and there’s a lock of her hair inside.” I felt both mildly grossed out as well as heartwarmed by this new fact. At the very least I was glad I hadn’t tried to open the pouch yet.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Wait- Merry took the Hunter Exam? But I thought-”

“She was only twelve.” The woman continued. “That was the first time she took it. It took three tries, but eventually…”

I was trying to wrap my head around this. “So, Merry became a Hunter before Ember did, even though she’s… the younger sister?”

“That’s right. I was so proud… but…” Her voice cracked. I gently placed a hand on the woman’s back. It seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. “We never even got her body back- it was like she just disappeared. All we knew is that she was investigating the Phantom Troupe.” 

The Phantom Troupe. There was that name again. I would have to do more research.

“Anyway.” the woman wiped her tears and looked at me with a wavering smile. “I’m not too sure who you are or how you met my Ember, but… Please take care of my Merry.”

I nodded and slung the string around my neck, wearing the hair-talisman like some sort of necklace. I considered it my mission- I would protect the pouch, and give it back to Ember to repay her for her kindness.

When the cup of tea was on its last dregs, I was led into Ember and Merry’s old bedroom, a sparsely decorated box of a room with a thick layer of dust covering everything from the desk to the bunk bed. I perched on the bottom bunk, pulling out the burner phone Ember had left with me and scrolling through the features. Ember had suggested to search up the man called “Leorio”, and so that’s what I did, although I didn’t get many positive results. Eventually, I found a page for a man going by “Leorio Paladiknight,” and the image looked like the one from the video I saw earlier.

“Oh, there’s an address here.” I squinted to read the location listed on the page. My next clue, even if it was only a small step to Ging, was right here. Satisfied with the day’s accomplishments, I closed my eyes for the first winks of sleep since I had awoken in this unfamiliar world.

The next morning, I said goodbye to Ember’s family, albeit with a lot of bowing and mumbled apologies, with just enough change to take an airship to the address I had found the night before. I felt too bad to take any more money than I needed, so it seemed I was investing everything on Leorio. 

The airship I boarded was large and commercial, and seemed to be full of so many people. It was interesting to just observe people, and I spent the entire flight watching as humans of all shapes and sizes went about their business on the airship. Upon landing, it only took a few minutes for me to reorient myself and pull out the phone’s GPS. I wondered what sort of person Leorio might be, and how he ended up connected to Ging’s son. The son’s name was Gon, if I remembered correctly... Gon... 

When I pulled up at the address, I realized that it wasn’t some sort of home or apartment as I had been expecting, but a small medical clinic, with a hospital cross stuck on the overhang in front. In retrospect, that made sense, since people didn’t generally go around advertising their home addresses. Well, feeling an odd sense of deja vu from the day prior, I climbed the small stairs and stepped up to the door, and-

Before I could even think about opening the door, it was jolted open and someone forcibly pushed out of it. I had only a second of realization that I was, indeed, falling, until I hit the ground.

Somehow, in the small amount of airtime that I had, my brain had the bright idea to brace my fall with an arm, the left one to be exact. Such a bright idea turned out to be not exactly desirable when I examined the arm and saw a heavy amount of blood.

The shock of the fall now mostly over, realization began to set in. I was in pain. A lot of it. And someone was apologizing to me, but my eyes didn’t seem to register who was speaking until I was being helped up from the ground and brought inside the clinic. Now that I had a better grip on my bearings, I realized that it was a young-looking man who was helping me inside. I could just about see my reflection in the small glasses that fell to the end of his nose.

“Excuse me, but are you… Mr. Leorio Paladiknight?” I asked, connecting the man in front of me to the man in the video that Ember had shown me. 

“Yes, that’s me. We should treat your arm right now.” He seemed sort of straightforward as he sat me down in an examination chair and pulled out some first aid supplies. “I’m the only one here now, so this will have to do.”

“Are you a doctor?” Was my next question as Leorio began to treat my arm. I winced at the sharp pain as he dabbed disinfectant to my wounds and attached some sort of gauze.

“Not officially.” Leorio said. He finished the procedure rather quickly, and I was amazed at how skillful he seemed in his actions. Then he added, rather proudly, “I’m a pro-Hunter, though.”

“That’s right.” I pulled back my bandaged arm and straightened up in the chair. “Actually, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about. I’ll get straight to the point. I’m looking for the Hunter named Ging Freecss.”

Leorio’s face turned up at the name. “Why would you want to find that bastard?” he grumbled. 

“Well, believe it or not, he saved my life… I think.” There was more to it than that, but I wasn’t sure how I could express this fixation in words.

“I’m not the right person to ask.” Leorio said, snapping close the briefcase that he had taken the first aid materials from. “I only saw him once, when I managed to get a real good hit on him.” HIs fingers flexed into a fist on his right hand, as if reliving the moment.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I recalled the video. “That was a pretty good one.” Maybe I was wrong, but it seemed Leorio blushed proudly at the compliment. I got the idea that he was a prideful guy.

“Okay, then do you know where his son is? His name is-”

“Gon.” Leorio filled in for me. His eyes sparkled just a bit.

“Right, Gon. I was thinking he might know where Ging is, so if you could help me-”

“If I knew where Gon was, I would tell you.” Leorio said firmly. “But that’s what’s weird. Killua says the last time he saw him was at the World Tree, but that was a while ago.”

“Killua?”

“A buddy. Gon’s best friend.” That wasn’t a very adequate explanation of a person I had no knowledge of, but I let it slide to hear him out. “Sort of arrogant kid, but he’s strong, and he’s got the right idea. The World Tree was apparently where Gon was supposed to be meeting his father.”

“Meeting his father?” I asked. That seemed like an odd way to say it.

“You saw the video, right? Ging wouldn’t even visit Gon in the hospital. He’s a terrible dad. When I first met Gon in the Exam, he had never even met Ging before.” His lips curled into a frown. “I don’t think I should be telling you so much. If you want to find Ging or not, it’s not my problem.” He stood up abruptly, taking the briefcase with him. I got up as well.

“I didn’t introduce myself earlier, but my name is Anise. Please, I need to find Ging!” I tried to make my eyes beg, although I wasn’t sure how successful that was. 

“Like I said, I don’t have anything to do with that idiot of a man.” Leorio said.

“But-” I felt bad that I would resort to this measure, but I really needed the information. “You knocked me down the stairs, right? So consider it as paying me back.”

Leorio sighed, and guided me back to the main room of the clinic. “Fine, I guess. I’ll tell you some things, since I think today will be a quiet one. But all of my information is old.” He pointed out the old leather couch in the clinic’s waiting room. “Sit there. I’ll make some tea.”

The tea was less than elegant, as Leorio poured out hot water from a plastic tea kettle that was plugged into a wall. I was tossed a teabag, which I bobbed in and out of the water until it colored the drink slightly. Any tea was better than no tea, however, and I drank it gratefully. 

“It’s been almost twenty-four hours.” I said thoughtfully as Leorio prepared his own cup of tea.

“Since what?” He asked off-handedly, like he was uninterested.

“Since my memories began.”

This caught his attention, and he turned to face me. “Elaborate.”

I realized that if I got him interested, he might be willing to offer me more information. “Let’s see… I woke up yesterday with amnesia. Do you know about the Aspen factory explosion?”

“I’ve heard of it.” He said shortly. “Are you saying that that’s what Ging saved you from?”

I gave a big nod. “That’s what I’ve been told. I don’t actually remember anything… anything from before yesterday.” 

“As a medical student, this interests me, and that’s the only reason I’m talking to you.” He pointed to me, the angle making his eyes hide behind his glasses so I couldn’t see his expression. He took his cup of tea and sat down on one of the chairs to face me.

“So, tell me more about Gon then, and about Ging.” I said eagerly. He sighed in mock defeat, but I could somehow tell that he seemed just as eager to be talking about the subject.

“Gon is my buddy.” Leorio reiterated, “I met him during the Hunter Exam, and it’s only thanks to him and the others that I’m here, right now, with this.” He fished around for something in his briefcase and held up a card that looked identical to the one that Ember had shown me. The Hunter License. He wasn't kidding about being a pro Hunter.

“The great thing about Gon is he doesn’t care who you are.” Leorio went on, pride flashing in his face as he spoke of his friend. I found myself admiring their friendship in the way he spoke, in the revere that he seemed to hold for the boy. “Gon has no judgements, you know? He didn’t care that Killua comes from an assassin family, or that Kurapika was out for revenge, or that I was just doing it for the money. And he helps everyone, too, with that innocent smile on his face…” 

“Damn, this is just making me realize how much I miss him. Geez, how many months has it been?” Leorio was standing up for something. I watched him take something framed from the desk and bring it over to me. It was a photograph, a group picture showing Leorio, a feminine-looking person with blonde hair, and two young boys. One of the boys seemed paler than possible, with whitish hair, and the other boy looked tanner compared to him, dressed in all green with hair that spiked up from his head.

“This one is Gon, right?” I pointed to the green boy, who closely resembled the Ging I had seen in the video. 

“That’s right.” He pointed out the other people in the photo. “Me, obviously, that’s Kurapika, and this is Killua. I’d say, if anyone knows where Gon is, it would be Killua. Those kids were stuck together like glue... I still don’t understand why they separated.”

“Do you have his phone number or something?” I asked. “To call him, or…”

Leorio swore slightly under his breath. “No one picks up the phone when I call anyway, so I stopped bothering. Gon and Kurapika have been radio silent. But, I guess I can try one more time.”

He input something into his phone, and I heard it ring once, twice.

Suddenly, the phone beeped. Leorio flinched in surprise. Someone had picked up the phone, but they weren’t saying anything.

“Gon!” Leorio said, his voice easily gleeful. “Gon, it’s me-”

“Leorio.” The voice on the other side of the phone was not one I would attribute to the cute kid from the photo. Sure, it sounded young, but also cold, unfeeling. Was this really the Gon that Leorio was speaking so highly of a moment ago?

“Gon, what’s up!” Leorio sounded excited, but before he could say anything else, the call was cut. “What the hell?” Leorio pressed redial, but no one picked up.

“Are you sure that was Gon? He didn’t sound too happy to hear from you.” I said. 

Leorio frowned. “That’s true. Something must have happened.” He gnashed his teeth. “If anyone’s going to hurt Gon, they’ll have to go through me first!”

The sentiment was cute, but I was more worried by Gon’s voice. 'Leorio', he had said, in such a cold tone. Was that really how friends spoke to friends?

“I’ll call one more time.” Leorio said decisively, and this time, he must have picked up.

“Leorio.” The voice again, not exactly menacing, but very, very chilly. “Don’t call again.”

The line fell dead. Both Leorio and I kept silent. Those last words still seemed to hover in the air. I felt chills run down my spine, and I was sure Leorio felt it as well. Something was not alright on the other side of this phone.

“Damnit, Gon!” Leorio slammed a hand down on the coffee table, rattling the phone and the cup of tea. I held my cup protectively, but somehow understood his feelings. For a friend to say such things must be a blow.

“That’s the first time he’s picked up in months.” I could hear his voice crack just a little, but he kept his face turned away from me. “Months, I tell you. How can I tell him how worried sick I am for him? The last time I left him alone for this long, he went and got himself- got himself almost killed, and I couldn’t do anything except punch his stupid bastard of a father.”

My eyes flitted back to the framed photo, to the little boy who couldn’t even be a teenager, dressed in all green with a bright smile. Surely that voice was not him… right?

“That’s it, I’m calling Killua.” Leorio grabbed for the phone, furiously typing and jamming the device to his ear. “Pick up the phone, damn you!”

No response. I was growing uneasy. What was up with this group of friends? I was hesitant to speak, not wanting to distress Leorio any more than he seemed, but more questions were brimming in my mind and I burned with impatience.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that.” Leorio said quietly. His entire demeanor seemed like someone had flicked a switch. “Gon… Something’s wrong, he would never say that, never.”

I nodded sympathetically. Leorio was fiddling with the phone.

“I’ll try Kurapika, but he hasn’t picked up since… well, ever.” This time, he didn’t bother to bring the phone to his ear. We both waited on the dial tone, but to no avail. “It’s always like this…”

“If you don’t mind, can I have those numbers?” I asked, forcing my voice to be as polite as possible.

“Sure, whatever.” Leorio grumbled, tossing his phone over to me. It was a surprisingly large amount of trust, and I felt grateful for everything Leorio had done for me so far. After all, we were still technically strangers.

I quickly copied the numbers into the burner phone’s contact list and shoved the phone back over to its owner. Leorio seemed a bit out of it, not saying a word as he gathered up the tea cups to put them away. I, too, felt at a loss. I had hit another roadblock. Leorio seemed to have no other information on Ging, and the issue surrounding Ging’s son seemed even more complicated. I thought again about the pale boy from the group photo. Killua, according to Leorio. He’d also mentioned something about an assassin family. But, if he really was the best friend to Gon, he might be the closest thing to my next clue.

“This boy named Killua.” I hesitantly pointed him out in the photo.

“Yeah, right. He’s a little cheeky kid, but stronger than most people.” Leorio came to sit back down on the couch, resting his chin in his hand. “Killua was probably the last one to see Gon before he just kind of disappeared.”

“What do you mean by ‘disappeared’?”

“Well, it’s not a cause for alarm, or it wasn’t at the time anyway.” Leorio waved his Hunter’s license around again. “Hunters are always going off on their own for one reason or another, so it’s not like we need to be that concerned. Gon can handle himself, but… he hasn’t contacted Killua, Kurapika, me, or even that aunt of his back on his island.”

“So then… Finding Killua wouldn’t help me find Gon?” I asked.

“Actually, finding Gon might not even help you find Ging.” Leorio pointed out. “He’s not the kind of father to care about his son.”

“That’s harsh. Ging can’t be that bad… he saved my life…”

“But you don’t remember any of it, right? For all you know, it was someone else.” Leorio took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, suddenly looking very tired. “I think you should just drop it. You said your name was Anise, right? Anise, maybe you should just concentrate on getting your memories back.”

“I can’t do that.” I said firmly. “I’m going to find Ging.”

Leorio scrunched his mouth into a thin line. “Then, why don’t you try taking the Hunter exam?” He suggested. “There’s a lot of information you can get as a Hunter.”

“That’s right!” I brightened up. Ember had told me to do that as well. “I can get some more information about the Phantom Troupe, as well.”

“The Phantom Troupe? What do you have to do with them?” Leorio seemed stunned.

“Why? Do you know about them?”

“Of course I do. Kurapika won’t shut up about them. We had to confront them in Yorknew. All of them, they’re a scary lot. I don’t recommend getting involved with them. That’ll just make things worse.” He pointed at me, and at my forehead. “Coming from an almost-doctor, you should just rest and work on your memories.”

“But-” he dropped his hand. “Coming from… me… I'd say to try and take the exam.” 

I smiled. This guy had a good heart, and I could see why he had friends who relied on him. 

“I don’t know why, but I feel like helping you. It’s strange.” Leorio said. 

“I’ll work hard!” I said. “Mr. Leorio, I promise that I’ll become a Hunter, and find Ging... and Gon!”

“The Exam is a lot harder than you think. They say only one rookie passes every three years.” Leorio warned me.

“Rookie?”

“People who are taking the exam for the first time. Of course, I passed as a rookie (I could practically see his nose growing in ego) but I’m not sure you’ll have the same luck.”

“I don’t need luck, as long as I have your support!” I pumped my fist into the air, then realized what I had just signed up for. “Actually, if you could tell me more about the exam…”

He explained to me a general outline of the exam, and what I might anticipate for the tests. “There’s some scary people, though.” He warned. “Try making allies, and stay away from people who look troublesome, especially that guy named Tonpa.”

“I still don’t quite understand what the point of a Hunter is, though.” I stated.

“That’s hard to explain. Being a Hunter means something different to each participant. For you, it’ll mean, well, hunting down Ging. For me, it was getting the credibility and money I needed to provide healthcare for others.” His face and tone became gentler as he spoke. This was clearly a subject he was passionate in. 

“And also… Ember, err, a Hunter I met, said something about this thing called Nen. She could turn water blue, like magic. That’s how you punched Ging in that video, right?”

Leorio nodded. “I don’t fully grasp nen yet, but the others are crazy talented at it. It has something to do with the aura in your body. There’s so much more to it than just turning water blue, trust me.” I marvelled at the thought of something just like magic. Would I be able to use it, too, after becoming a Hunter?

“Anise, you better pass that Hunter Exam and find Ging.” Leorio said suddenly. 

“Why’s that?”

“So I can give him another good punch!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leorio's namedropping all sorts of familiar characters...  
> It doesn't seem necessary to detail their entire time together, so we'll have callbacks to Leorio's information as it becomes relevant. For now, he's only in this chapter...   
> I wonder why everyone likes Anise so much? Maybe she has main character syndrome.


	5. The Hunter Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anise is off to take the Hunter Exam she's heard so much about, but the challenge begins even before she reaches the first phase. And who's this mysterious, potential ally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, the Hunter Exam arc is my favourite, so I couldn't help but want to write my own version. It was fun to think up what sorts of trials and tribulations the Hunter Association has come up with this year.  
> Leorio is gone for now, but hopefully he'll come back soon :)

And so, I spent the time leading up to the Hunter Exam training with Leorio. The word “training,” of course, being used lightly, since Leorio wasn’t exactly a muscle man himself. Instead, he got me a job at the clinic for a small amount of money (not even minimum wage), only for him to educate me on world news at break times. Food was purchased from a nearby convenience store, and I slept on the old waiting room couch when Leorio went back to his home for the night.

Before I left, I had garnered just enough for a train ticket, and raised my status from acquaintance to friend of Leorio. 

“I’ll be rooting for you.” he said, smiling, as he handed me something. “Take this.”

He had given me a switchblade, which nearly gave me a heart attack when it flicked open out of nowhere in my palm.

“Yeah, it does that sometimes, but it’ll help protect you during the exam.” Leorio said nonchalantly, “Listen, when you arrive, cut straight to the tree. There’s some monster-looking things there, but they’re actually guides to the place where the Exam is being held. Say you know me, and they’ll help you out.”

He squeezed my shoulder affectionately, and I smiled. Leorio was perhaps the first person apart from Ember to show me warmth. At least, the first in my conscious memory. And I would forever treasure my time spent with him. 

“Good luck.” He said, and then I was off.

I repeated Leorio’s mantra in my head will climbing the steep hill to get to the tree. Not even all of the walking I had done daily at the clinic could have prepared me for this, and I was already starting to feel a bit tired. No, I had to do this. I had to take the exam, for Ember, for Leorio, and for me.

The “monsters” Leorio had described initially scared me, but they turned out to be sweet creatures, known as kirikos. They were big yellow things with tall ears that stood up on their heads and sharp claws on their paws.

“I remember Leorio.” One of them said when I arrived. “He was part of that group with Gon, and Killua, remember? This girl smells like Leorio, so she must be true.”

Their voices were high pitched and a bit eerie, but their company was pleasant. “Do you know Gon, little one?” I was asked.

“No. Actually, I’m kind of looking for him.” I told one of the kirikos- I couldn’t tell them apart for the life of me.

“That’s a shame.” The kiriko clicked its tongue. “Gon was such a lovely boy. He and Killua were doing all sorts of fun things the last time Killua dropped by.”

“Fun things? Like what?” I was curious to know more about Ging’s son, seeing as all I knew about him at this point was the terribly cold voice overheard on Leorio’s cell phone. Leorio had seemed full of praise for the boy, and it seemed like these kirikos felt the same way.

“Last time, Killua and Gon were completing some Hunter game called Greed Island. Before that, they’d been kidnapped, gone up the Heavens Arena…” The Kiriko rambled on. Most of the words floated straight over my head, but I caught the general gist of it- these two boys, Gon and Killua, had gotten mixed up in a lot of dangerous activities.

Luckily, the kirikos seemed to find me worthy enough to take the Hunter Exam, and so I found myself being carried by a winged beast over acres of trees and greenery. When we eventually landed, I watched the fascinating process as the kiriko morphed into a human shape of a kind looking man. 

“If you’ll follow me, please.”

I was guided into a small, dark building that seemed shady, literally. Lightbulbs hung out of their sockets, tables were battered, and the few people inside had a haunted, gaunt look to them.

“What is this?” I mumbled softly to myself, walking over squishy, dirty carpet. The kiriko-man walked me to the very back of the building’s interior and pointed to a chipped metal door. 

“The Exam point is just beyond here.” He stated, opening a metal box that rested on the wall. Inside was a keypad of sorts, where he tapped out a passcode. There was a small sound, a sound like metal grinding, and the door moved, though only by a centimeter or so. “Good luck to you, Anise. I would be honored to guide you next year, as well.”

He tipped his head to me and departed, leaving me mildly annoyed at his insinuation that I would not pass this year’s exam. Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong, I supposed. I barely had confidence in myself to take the exam. But the photographs of Merry and Ember, as well as the photograph of Leorio and his group of friends, flashed in my mind. For them, too- I was doing the exam for them. 

“I’ll find you, Ging.” I mumbled under my breath.

The pouch around my neck shifted as I pushed open the door. It was heavy, much heavier than I expected, and it took me a minute to wedge open enough of a gap for me to slide through. The moment my boots landed firmly on the other side, the door slammed shut with a rumble that made my whole body shiver.

Inside was a small room, a room very brightly lit compared to the one I had just come from. I had expected a large crowd like Leorio described from his exam, but there were only four other people in the room with me. These people seemed to be in the midst of arguing over something.

“The door won’t open because you’re not strong enough, stupid-!”

“It has nothing to do with strength, you’re the stupid one! This is clearly a logic puzzle-”

“Excuse me, what’s going on?” I hesitantly interrupted. At the sound of my voice, the other people in the room swivelled heads to look at me.

“This door won’t open.” someone said. “It’s clearly the first part of the exam.”

I examined the door that everyone was arguing over: instead of being shaped like a rectangle, it was a large, square door, made of many square metal panels. Despite all the panels, the front was completely smooth, with no trace of a handle to open with.

“Can I try?” I asked politely. There were a few scoffs, but the other candidates moved out of the way. I walked up and placed my hands flat against the door, and pushed as hard as I could, but nothing happened. My feeble strength didn’t even make a dent.

I glanced at the other candidates in the room, quickly sizing them up. One man, who seemed to be the oldest, had a shiny bald head and rippling muscles up and down his arms. Next to him stood another man, perhaps a young adult, who seemed to be the complete opposite, as he had a slim build and long, messy hair. The only other female apart from me was a woman with curly red hair, who was chewing something like gum and was staring at everyone else with large green eyes.

The final participant was a young boy, who had to be the minimum age of twelve as he couldn’t possibly be any older. He was holding what looked like a game console and was slouched up against a wall, completely ignoring what was happening around him.

The two men had gone back to arguing over whether the door required brains or brawn, and I began to think on my own. Surely this was part of the exam- we would have to open the door to get to the first phase- but how could we do that? 

There had to be a simple answer. One thing Leorio had mentioned during our time together was that “the exam is a lot more fair than you might think”, so I found it hard to believe that it would rely totally on brawn or totally on brains. That being said, the door really seemed immoveable, and I couldn’t conceive of any puzzle that might allow it to open.

“If you all would shut up for a minute, I’d tell you the answer.” The young boy didn’t even bother to look up from his game as he said this. The small room fell quiet, except for the beeps and sound effects that emitted from his device.

“What would that be, huh?” the skinny man said snidely. “How would you know?”

“It’s easy, isn’t it?” He said. This time, he looked up, and I was oddly reminded of a skunk by from his striking white-streaked black hair and small, determined eyes. He got up from his place in the corner. “That door won’t open with strength or with some sort of logic puzzle.”

“But that’s impossible!” The two men said in harmony, then glared at each other.

I looked at the set face of the boy, and it clicked in my mind. 

“I get it!” I said excitedly. “That’s not even a door, right?”

“B-I-N-G-O” he said with a smirk, then slapped the wall that he was just sitting against. “The real one’s right here, see? The pattern on this wall and the other don’t align.”

It was true. The difference was subtle, but if you looked closely it became clear that the patterns on each wall were misaligned. I was impressed that he had noticed this- there was no way I would have been able to.

“So the examiners were testing our ability to think outside the box.” I mused aloud. “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s open it!”

“I refuse!” Said the muscly man. “I’m not going to listen to what some little brats have to say. You have to be strong to be a Hunter, so I’ll bust through this door with my own strength!”

“I also refuse!” Said the slim guy. “The answer can’t be so simple. The Hunter Exam is all about using trickery and logic!”

“We can just open it by ourselves, right?” I looked back to the little skunk-looking boy. 

He shook his head and turned to face his video game console again. “No, we can’t.”

“What?”

“Think about it some more. They’re not just testing our ability to think up new solutions; that’s just half of the battle.” He jerked his head at each of the other participants in the room. “They’re also trying to test our teamwork. To open the door, everyone needs to pitch in.”

“Teamwork? But you’re not making any attempts at all!” I said. “You’re just sitting there!”

He shrugged. “They’ll come around, once they realize they can’t open the door no matter how hard they try.”

“But how long will that take? We don’t have all the time in the world!” I retorted.

“It’ll be fine.” the boy said. I was growing slightly irritated at the way he was talking down to me, despite him being just a kid. 

I strode over to the two arguing men. “Hey, both of you, please! We have to cooperate to make it to the Hunter Exam. Can we set aside our differences and…”

The speech had sounded much more powerful inside my head, but my voice trailed off when I realized that both grown men were not even listening to a word I was saying.

The quiet redhead took this moment to stomp over and clap her hands down on both of the men’s shoulders. The menacing stare she gave them froze them in place, and she dragged them over to where the boy was. I sighed in relief and followed her.  
“Open door?” Were the redhead’s only words as she pulled both men in tow. The boy sighed and tucked the game into a large pocket. 

“Right here. Everyone should push down on a section.” He guided everyone’s hands to a certain position on a wall, then placed his own two. “Ready, set…”

We all pushed, and amazingly, the wall opened up. I cheered a bit as our group of five stumbled out onto the other side.

Here was a much larger place, with high ceilings and a wide, open space. We were greeted by someone handing us circular plates with numbers inscribed on their fronts. The one I was given was marked by the number ‘25’.

“Welcome, applicants.” I listened as I attached my plate to my sweater, as it seemed people were putting on their plates. The speaker was someone dressed in a purple suit, with comically white hair. I guessed him to be one of the examiners. A Hunter.

In the room, there seemed only to be a handful of us. Other than the many doors covering the walls of the room, the only other thing of notice was a ginormous chunk of marble with a digital interface on the front, counting down from about thirty minutes.

At that moment, there was a grumbling sound as another door opened up in the wall some distance away, and another group of five stumbled through, getting handed plates of their own.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I whispered to the kid who I’d started thinking of as ‘Skunk’ in my head, who had re-focused his attention on his video game.

“Nope.” He replied, not even looking at me. “I’m a rookie too.”

I sighed, and considered speaking to the quiet but fierce redhead, but was unsure if I would even get an answer. I scanned the room to look at the other groups, wondering if I could get any good information. 

Leorio had repeatedly said to stay away from someone named ‘Tonpa’, so I checked the area, looking for someone fitting the description I was given, but he must not have arrived yet. Perhaps he wouldn’t arrive at all. There was a grim sort of feel to the room, and the groups kept mostly to themselves. 

“Hey, you.” Skunk’s voice? I turned around, and he had actually taken a break from the game, beckoning me over from where he was leaned against the wall. “That big white thing is a countdown” He pointed to the large marble thing I had noticed earlier.

“Yeah, I figured.” I said, “Um-”

“I’m thanking you.” He said bluntly, “If you hadn’t said something in the last room, I would have just waited the idiots out, but then we might have run out of time. So, I’ll give you some information in exchange.”

“Oh.” I felt oddly flattered. Perhaps it was in my best interest not to underestimate children. “My name is Anise. It’s nice to meet you.”

He looked away. “Yeah.”

I waited patiently, but it seemed he was not willing to disclose his name to me, so I gave up on that rather quickly. So for now, Skunk it is. Instead, I sat down next to him, and closed my eyes. If that chunk of marble indicated a countdown, I still had around a half hour to wait out.

Periodically, I’d hear the sound of another door being bashed open, and the sound of an obligatory, “Welcome, applicants!”, as well as the lulling sound of small talk and conversation. Still, the room was very divided by the groups people had arrived in, with hardly any mingling.

“Anise. It’s up.” There was a tap on my shoulder from the kid and I blinked my eyes open. He was gesturing to the large timer, where I saw there were only a few seconds left. Had time passed that quickly?

“Thanks, Skunk” I mumbled and staggered to my feet. It took me a few moments to realize my mistake. “Oh- I’m sorry- I-”

He was covering his mouth, but sort of laughing, I think. “Did you just call me Skunk?” 

“Umm… you wouldn’t tell me your name, so I…” 

“It’s okay.” he said in between laughter. “That’s fine, you can call me that. I’d much prefer that then telling you my name.”

What a mature little kid. I found myself thinking. A pang went through my heart when I realized that I had no clue how I acted when I was his age. Well, I was probably a complete idiot, so perhaps that was for the better…

The marble pillar suddenly made a large explosion of noise, startling me and most of the other applicants in the room. I noticed how many people were here now, as compared to earlier. This exam was no joke- many of the other examinees looked intense.

The examiner who had been welcoming each group came to stand in front of the marble. 

“Again, welcome, applicants. Each of you have been given a number plate based on the order you arrived. Congratulations on making it to the testing area. The first phase will now begin.” He raised a hand, and snapped his fingers, and the display on the marble’s screen flickered to show a new image. “Your first phase test will be to answer one simple question.”

With more snaps of his fingers, lights turned on behind him, revealing two massive archways that were covered in tall purple drapes. 

“Each candidate will be told something different, but the question has the same answer.” he continued, “To answer yes, please enter the curtain on my left. To answer no, enter the curtain on my right.”

Conversation burst forth at these words. I turned to Skunk, who had scrunched his face up. He didn’t seem to understand the situation any better than I did.

“We’ll go in order of arrival, so the order of the numbers on your plates.” The examiner continued. 

“Wait, won’t this mean that we’ll see which answers the other candidates choose?” I asked Skunk.

“Maybe that’s the point.” He suggested, “To see how swayed we are by other people. Stay on edge, though. He might ask an easy question, but the obvious answer might not be what others choose. I’ll be going before you (he gestured to our badges) so if you want, you can enter the same curtain I do.”

“Are you sure?” It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Skunk, but I didn’t know if this 12-year old was going to know the answer any better than me, either. 

“That’s all I owe you. It’s up to you whether you want to accept or not. Also…” He frowned at me. “I’m not 12.”

I didn’t know how he knew what I was thinking, but his words still shocked me. “No way. 13?”

“Nevermind. Ignore that.” He shook his head and sighed. 

Now I was just more confused than ever, but I didn’t have too much time to dwell on it because the examiner was calling forward the first applicant. I tried to listen carefully, but I couldn’t hear a thing from my position as the examiner asked the first question, and the candidate walked confidently into the curtain on the examiner’s right.

“So is the answer no?” I wondered aloud. Skunk didn’t say anything as the next applicant walked directly into the other curtain.

“There’s gotta be something behind the questions.” Skunk said. “And everyone gets a different one? How is that decided?”

“This exam is a lot more mental than I thought it would be.” I mused. “Leorio- my friend- he told me that they just ran for a long time in the first phase for his exam.”

“I have no doubt there will be some physical portions of the exam.” Skunk said, “But first, they probably want to cut down the number. See, there’s about three hundred here.”

“No way.” I knew there was a lot of people, but it didn’t seem like a three-hundred-lot-of-people. “How do you know that?”

“I was watching the guy hand out the badges.” He said as if it were obvious. “Or, you could count the number of open doors, and multiply it by five. If I was being precise, there’s exactly two hundred ninety-five.”

I knew there were a lot of doors, but wow, the way he deduced that impressed me. Maybe he was telling the truth about not being 12- but a sharp mind didn’t change his tiny stature and young face.

“It might actually have been bad that we entered so early, though.” Skunk said. “We’ll have less time to observe the participants before us. So far, most of them have entered into the ‘no’ curtain. Only five have entered the ‘yes’ curtain”

“No time to feel bad about that… does this mean we should go in the ‘no’ curtain?” I checked Skunk’s number- 24. Meanwhile, number 22, the redhead from our group, was going up. “Oh, we’re almost at your turn, Skunk.”

“Got it.” He smiled. “If you want, you should take the same curtain as I do, alright?”

I nodded. “Alright. If I want to, though. I am your elder, so I might be a little more wise than you.” I said sarcastically. His smile slightly twitched at that.

“Well, catch you on the other side… maybe. See ya, Anise.” It was his turn, and he strolled up to the examiner. Then, without hesitation, he entered the ‘yes’ curtain.

My turn now. On my walk up, I weighed my options. I could follow the majority and choose the ‘no’ curtain, or I could follow Skunk and take the ‘yes’ curtain. It all came down to the question the examiner asked me.

“Hello there, number 25.” the examiner said when I came to a stop in front of him. He was quite intimidating up close. “Do you want to hear your question?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir!”

“Okay, here it is.” He cleared his throat. “Tell me, number 25… Can I kill the candidate before you if it means that you would automatically pass the Hunter Exam?”


	6. Yes and No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After successfully completing the Hunter exam's first phase, Anise and newfound ally Skunk head towards the next phase of the exam.

I stood, shocked in place by the question I was just asked. What? 

“I- I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked weakly.

“Can I kill the candidate before you if it means that you would automatically pass the Hunter Exam?” The question was delivered as perfectly clear as it had been the first time, but my brain still refused to accept it.

My knees felt weak. Skunk had entered ‘yes’, meaning whatever question he was asked made him believe the answer was ‘yes’. I wanted to trust Skunk, but… what kind of question was this? Of course I didn’t want Skunk to die! This wasn’t a simple question at all!

Then I should go to ‘no’, right? But something tugged inside me. If I went to ‘no’, that would mean that either Skunk or I failed.

“Have you made your decision yet?” The examiner asked. 

“Stop asking me questions…” I grumbled, trying to think. If the majority chose ‘no’... but Skunk chose ‘yes’... what did this mean?

I tried to think it out calmly, but my thoughts were racing a thousand miles per minute. If I were to take his words at face value, then the obvious answer would be ‘no’. If I didn’t choose ‘no’... would this examiner really kill Skunk? Was he implying that, because Skunk chose the wrong answer, he was already walking into a death trap? No, that didn't seem right… 

“Have you made your decision yet?” The examiner repeated. “We are on limited time here.”

“Yes, I know, please stop asking me questions…” 

That’s when it clicked.

“Oh! I’ve got it!” And then, without another word, I dashed into the ‘yes’ curtain.

Behind the large purple drapes, I was surrounded by darkness for a moment until my feet were no longer standing on solid ground, and I plummeted. Had I picked the wrong side?

I didn’t even have time to scream when I felt my body make contact with something. A net, maybe? I immediately tried to get to my feet, but the fall had made me discombobulated. Someone was helping me up, and I stumbled around until my eyes adjusted enough to the darkness to make out shapes.

“I knew you’d pick this side.” It was Skunk, yanking me out of a net. I squinted, trying to see his face, but I could just barely make out the outline of him. “Come on, there’s some light this way.”

We travelled through a little tunnel, where there was indeed light, light that slowly got brighter and brighter.

“What question did you get?” Skunk asked me as we walked.

I paused, wondering if it would offend him- and still not even entirely sure if the side we were on was the “correct” side. 

“Well, it was something like, ‘the candidate before you is murdered but you get a free pass to the Hunter Exam'...” I mumbled.

Skunk, surprisingly, laughed. 

“So, did you figure it out, or did you just go to ‘yes’ because I did?” He asked. “Unless you really don’t mind me dead-?”

“Um, I think I got it figured out. The trick is, that’s not the real question we were supposed to answer, right?” I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain myself. “I mean, earlier, he was saying how we’d only get asked 'one simple question'. Then I realized, he’d actually been asking a lot of questions! And the one he’d given me wasn’t simple at all.”

“So you realized that the real question you were supposed to answer was actually the first thing he said, ‘Do you want to hear your question?’”

“That’s right!” I was sort of proud of myself for figuring that out, if I was being honest. “And the obvious answer to that one was yes. So… I hope we picked correctly.”

“I think we did.” We’d reached the end of the tunnel, and Skunk pulled aside some more curtains. Bright light flooded my eyeballs. Five other participants were in the room, sitting or standing far apart from each other. 

“What question did he ask you, Skunk?” I asked, but he didn’t respond, just frown. 

The five other participants besides us all looked intimidating, to say the least. It seemed like no one from Skunk and I’s original group had made it here, so I was facing a room of strangers… scary strangers… 

All that was left was to wait. Skunk made himself comfortable, leaning against the wall and pulling out his video game. I kept my eye on the tunnel entrance, watching as more people emerged from the curtain, and the room slowly became more and more crowded. There was still no sign of any examiner.

Finally, the purple-suited examiner from earlier strode in the room. Everyone fell deadly silent- you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

“Congratulations on choosing the correct response.” he stated. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “You all have passed the first phase of the Hunter Examination. I will now introduce you to your next examiner."

From seemingly nowhere, a woman appeared, standing next to the examiner. She was dressed in an all-black jumpsuit, and her hair was set back in rows of neat braids. Her eyes were shielded by dark sunglasses, but I could still feel the intensity of her gaze. She was a Hunter, for sure- no doubt about it.

“We’ll be taking a boat to the next exam site, so all of you, line up in order of arrival.” Her tone was no-nonsense and straight to the point. She tapped a section of the wall, and as if by magic, a large chunk disappeared, revealing a gaping hole- and the ocean?

“Skunk, were we near the ocean when we entered the exam site?” I whispered to the boy in question. He shook his head.

“No, not at all. We’ve travelled a long way.” He whispered back.

Slowly, the applicants in the room rearranged into a line heading out the hole in the wall. Skunk and I were near the front, with about thirty people behind us. Yes, that was the ocean in front of us- our shoes were nestled into bright yellow sand, and the scent of a salty sea filled the air.

This was the first time I had seen the ocean after waking up with amnesia, and the sight almost brought a tear to my eye. If I wasn’t in the middle of the exam, I might have just run straight into the waves, to feel the sea spray on my face and the cooling sensation of the salt water.

The Hunter guided us to a wooden dock, and, in order, we filed into a rather big yacht, which bobbed on the ocean waves. 

“You all may take this time to rest for the next phase as we make our way to our destination. I suggest you take this opportunity to prepare. The rooms on this boat are open for you to use. We will arrive at approximately 6am tomorrow.”

6am tomorrow? With a glance at the clock on the ship, it seemed we had a LOT of hours to kill before then. 

After the Hunter finished speaking, the yacht began moving, and people began dispersing.

“You might want to hurry.” Skunk said quietly. “There might be a limited amount of rooms left.”

“You’re right!” I realized, and was about to hurry off before I looked back at Skunk. “You want to come with me?”

To me, it seemed we had already formed a kind of unlikely alliance. I wouldn’t go as far as to call us friends, but I trusted this kid. He seemed sharp and knowledgeable, and was definitely an asset in the exam. Leorio had stressed the importance of making alliances, and I had been unconsciously considering Skunk as mine.

“Ok.” he responded, to my surprise. “Follow me.”

The interior of the yacht was nicer than I had expected, and I couldn’t stop myself from marvelling at it as we passed through. Skunk already seemed to have a place in mind, and I lagged a little behind him, taking in everything with my eyes.

“Here.” Skunk pushed open a door, revealing what looked like a hotel room. A huge bedframe and mattress filled with throw pillows filled the majority of the main room, and I spotted an offset luxury bathroom. “This is the yacht’s suite room, so it’s the nicest and biggest on the ship.”

“Wow, Skunk- How did you know that?” I couldn’t help myself and kicked off my shoes before I flopped down directly onto the huge bed, which was just as fluffy as it had looked. 

Skunk didn’t answer yet again, only locked the door and pulled over an armchair. He brought out his video game again and went back to playing.

The softness of the bed was a welcome contrast to all the time I had spent sleeping on Leorio’s clinic’s couch. I almost fell asleep right then and there, but I could smell how dirty I had become, and I didn’t want to marr the luxury sheets. 

Then I remembered Skunk. Would he be offended if I took a nap on the only bed in the room? He seemed to be content in his armchair, though, so I brushed it off. A little bit of selfishness was okay, right?

The bathroom was another level of exquisite, and it was hard to remember that we were on a yacht. I could probably amuse myself for a long time with all of the cool features, but the most necessary one for me at the moment was the deep bathtub with built in jets. I even added some bubble bath, and let myself simmer in the warm water. It was hard to remember that I was in the middle of a very important exam. 

When I finally emerged from the bathroom with a towel tied tightly around my head, Skunk was still sitting in his armchair, tapping away at his game. Kids will be kids, I sighed, as I climbed into the big mattress.

“Skunk, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when it’s tomorrow.” I yawned.

“Hey, wait-” Skunk actually looked up from his game. “You really trust me that much?”

“Well, you’re just a kid, and I don’t think you’d want to kill me or anything.” I threw a pillow at Skunk. “We’re allies, right?”

“Yeah, I guess…” He re-focused his attention on the game. “Well, fine, then. I’ll wake you up if you oversleep.”

I grinned. This kid wasn’t so bad after all. Without another thought, I rested my head on a pillow and went straight into dreamless, effortless sleep.

Despite my request to Skunk, I ended up waking up early. A glance to the clock made me realize there was still some time until we were scheduled to arrive at our destination. In the armchair, Skunk had fallen asleep sitting up, but I somehow got the feeling that he was still on guard. Instead of a peaceful sleeping face, Skunk looked almost bitter. Maybe he didn’t trust me as much as I trusted him...

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes in the bathroom and carefully re-made the bed. For a moment I considered phoning Leorio, but then I remembered that there was probably no cell service in the middle of the ocean and shot the idea down. Well, there was still more time to kill, so I buttoned up my boots and quietly left the room.

It was just barely light outside. I walked to the edge of the yacht’s railing and peered out into the distance, but there didn’t seem to be any landforms in sight. Where were we going, exactly? Leorio had mentioned a ship when recounting his Hunter Exam, but his was a small one to get to some kind of bounty-hunting island. This was definitely something very different.

Since I hadn’t had the time to explore the yacht yesterday, I took this time to look around. There were a few other people awake, too. I passed by someone meditating, someone else practicing with a scarily sharp weapon, and two people playing cards at a table. No one gave me a second glance, although I didn’t expect anyone to. 

I stood at the railing, wistfully watching the waves move in the water.

Suddenly, a door whipped open and someone staggered into me.

“Help!” The person screeched. I stumbled back, but the guy had grabbed me by the shoulders and was holding on, tight. 

“E- excuse me, sir, what's wrong?” I stuttered, trying to wriggle away. The guy’s face had colored an odd shade of green and was contorted in a weird way.

“Everything’s spinning!” He screamed. I cast my eyes around, looking for someone to help me out of this predicament, but no one was even looking my way. 

“Are you seasick?” I asked the stranger, hoping that he wouldn’t throw up on me. I could smell something- maybe alcohol?- on his breath, and the stench made me scrunch up my face. A drunk, seasick man was definitely trouble.

“Everything’s spinning!” He repeated, clamping down tighter on my shoulders. Help, someone, anyone, I begged in my mind. 

I remembered my knife, and sank a hand into my pocket, grasping the handle. Okay, I would pull it out in 3… 2… 1…

I yanked the switchblade from my pocket in the same moment the man stumbled back from me. What just happened? He had both his hands over his stomach, and with a heavy heave, threw up on the yacht deck.

“Are you okay, Anise?” It was Skunk! He had his hands in his pockets, looking up at me curiously as if nothing had just happened.

“Did you just-” I didn’t know what to say.

“All I did was sock him in the stomach,” he shrugged. “He looked like he had a little trouble throwing up, so I just thought I would help him.”

I let out a soft laugh, and clicked the knife back into the handle.

“Thanks, Skunk.” I smiled. “I’m glad I didn’t have to resort to using this.”

“Well, if I knew you had a knife, I might not have stepped in.” Skunk replied.

“For a kid, you’re pretty strong.” I told him. “How did you know I was out here?”

“You weren’t there when I woke up, and your shoes were missing. So I came out to find you.” I was sort of flattered. “Well, the second phase is going to start soon. We should head back.”

“You’re right.” I said, and with a last glance at the man lying in a puddle of his own puke, I followed Skunk back.

“By the way, there’s a possibility this yacht trip is a part of the examination.” Skunk said when we made it back to the suite. 

“What makes you say that?” I asked him.

“People like that guy. Does someone that susceptible to seasickness deserve to be a Hunter?”

“I guess not,” I said. “So they wanted to weed out candidates?”

“Well, yes. Also,” Skunk raised his pointer finger, “You wouldn’t know this because you were asleep, but there was a big storm in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t be surprised if it messed up a few more passengers, like that guy. I was surprised you slept right through it.”

“I did?” I thought back, but my sleep had seemed peaceful, not troubled by any storms. “I guess I’m just good at sleeping, then.” 

“It’s almost time.” Skunk glanced at the clock.

The long minute hand was nearing the 12, and the hour hand was only a millimeter or two away from the 6.

“That’s odd, though.” I said. “I didn’t see any land nearby when I was outside.”

“Well, the examiner never said we were going to land.” Skunk suggested.

“So what does that mean-?” I asked, just as the speakers on the yacht crackled to life.

“We have arrived at the test area for the second phase. Please make your way to the main deck. I repeat, we have arrived at the test area for the second phase…” It was the examiner’s voice, echoing on the speaker system.

We headed down to the deck, where the rest were gathered. Like Skunk had predicted, there were less people here than when we originally boarded. Furthermore, from my viewpoint on the deck, there were no landforms in the area. Just ocean water stretching out as far as the eye can see.

“Anyone not standing here right now will be considered disqualified for the exam.” The Hunter said, once it seemed like everyone who would be coming had arrived. “And now, I will explain the contents of the Hunter Exam’s second phase.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much really happens here... aha... in a way, it's kind of filler-like, but I needed a lead-up to the second phase.  
> Skunk is sort of a weird name. It's like she's just implying that he smells...  
> My writing gets worse and worse when it comes to dialogue, I'm sorry. I'll try a little better... people talk a lot, don't they?  
> Sometimes I hate the title I've given this story, but I really had no other ideas, and it's a bit too late to change it now.  
> You can tell I don't understand how fan fiction works because I don't know what to say in these notes sections. I guess this means I have to read a lot more.


	7. Going For a Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the second phase of the exam, and Anise and Skunk are going- swimming? Furthermore, something weird has happened to Skunk...

“This part of the examination is very simple.” the Hunter announced. “Put simply, all of you will get in the water and swim behind the yacht.”

What? I glanced out over the railing. The sea was relatively calm here, but… swimming? It was probably freezing cold this early in the morning, and who knows how long we would be subjected to it. What if someone drowned? 

Some of Leorio’s words came to mind: ‘The Hunter Exam takes death and danger very lightly.’ It seemed those words rang true. I shivered. 

“What about our stuff?” someone asked the Hunter.

“Anything left on the yacht can be recollected upon arrival. If any of you do not wish to participate, you may stay safely aboard, but will be disqualified from this year’s exam.”

This was crazy. From the looks of it, no one had proper swimming gear, either. I looked down at my own outfit and realized how the baggy clothes would weigh me down when soaked in water. 

There was the sound of general complaint through the crowd. One man began panicking.

“I can’t swim!” He screamed. “They can’t make me do this!” 

But the Hunter kept a steely glare, even behind the dark lenses of her shades.

“You have ten minutes to prepare yourselves accordingly. You’ll be entering the water in the same order as your badges.” she said. “Keep in mind that there are some magical beasts that are known to live in these waters. Also, you must bring your number plates with you into the water. If you lose the plate or arrive at our final destination without one, you will be disqualified.”

“So basically, if you take someone else’s plate, you can guarantee their disqualification.” Skunk mumbled from beside me. He looked over and up at me. “Anise, this one’s going to be dangerous.”

“I know that, but…”

There were the sounds of more and more complaints in the crowd, but I had already resigned myself to the task. Even if this was a dangerous phase… It wasn’t like I had any other choice.

Luckily, I had a spare change of clothes, so I ducked into the interior of the yacht to strip some layers. For swimming gear, a tank top and some boxers would have to do. I felt hesitant to remove Merry’s talisman, but I certainly didn't want to get it wet, so into the boot it went. All of my possessions were bundled up and placed behind a chair, and I was about to leave when I reflected on the examiner’s comment about magical beasts. I dug around and retrieved Leorio’s knife. 

The last thing I grabbed was a life jacket that I retrieved from the emergency cabinet. Just in case, I reminded myself as I clicked myself into the bright orange contraption. I attached the switchblade tightly to the life jacket, as well as my number plate. Sure, I looked idiotic, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. There wasn’t anyone I needed to impress, anyway. 

By then the ten minutes were almost up, so I rushed back out to the main deck, looking around for Skunk. He hadn’t bothered to change, only set down his game system on a deck chair. I stood next to him and tied up my large mass of hair into a tight bun, brushing extra strands away from my face.

“Can we stick together during this phase?” I asked Skunk, trying to keep my voice cheerful so that my nerves wouldn’t get to me. 

“Um…” Skunk appeared to be lost in thought. “Sure.”

“Great.” I was already starting to feel the morning cold now that I was down a few layers, and I felt weirdly exposed in my boxers. It wouldn’t matter how I looked once we were in the water, but I still felt self-conscious - especially in this bright, conspicuous life jacket. At least, it seemed I wasn’t the only one with this idea; several other applicants were wearing a matching life jacket to me.

“You stand out a lot in that.” Skunk mentioned to me as we lined up at the edge of the deck. “You’ll be much easier to see in the water.”

I didn’t think of that earlier- I glanced down worriedly at the life jacket.

“I don’t know, I thought it was a good idea…” I muttered. “Besides, I’m not the only one-”

“It’ll be fine.” Skunk said decisively. “If anything happens to you, I’ll help.” I wasn’t sure if his words made me feel any better.

The first participant jumped off the ship. The Hunter waited a few moments as the applicant’s head bobbed around in the waves before signalling the next person. Before I knew it, Skunk had made a clean dive into the water, and it was my turn to go.

The first thing I noted when I launched myself into the ocean was the freezing cold. It was really, really, really cold. I couldn’t stop my teeth from loudly chattering as I doggy paddled over to Skunk, who looked much more put together than I as he treaded water. How did he manage to look so unbothered in every situation? 

Once everyone had entered the water, the ship had started moving, and the Hunter perched herself on the railing to watch us. There was a flurry of splashing as we all swam to keep up with the moving boat. It wasn’t too hard, as the yacht was creeping forward at a snail’s pace, and for the most part the waves were docile enough to easily paddle through. 

I had somehow expected a battle royale of sorts to take place once we were all in the water, but for the most part, everyone seemed civil, and focused mainly on themselves. I myself had trouble thinking of anything besides the water splashing all over my face, and my flailing limbs. I was grateful to have the life jacket keeping me afloat as I pushed my way forward in the harsh cold.

The group continued on in this way for what seemed like forever. I was getting colder as time went on, but the sun was rising steadily into the sky. How long had we been swimming? And for how much longer? Surely there was an end to all this- I didn’t want to die of hypothermia. 

I glanced over at Skunk, wondering how he was faring. Despite his small build, he was keeping steady pace, a stark contrast to my own fish-like flopping. 

Then came the first conflict.

“My badge!” It was the first sound other than the slapping of water for ages, and I whipped my head to the direction it came from. There was an examinee, waving his arms above the water. “My badge is missing!”

Automatically, I checked my lifejacket to make sure that my number plate was still securely fastened there, and breathed a sigh of relief to see it still in place. The examinee was desperately looking around in the water, and while other candidates gave him a few fleeting looks of pity, not one volunteered to help him search.

As he flailed in the water, searching, I got this strange sense of foreboding, and something began rising from the water behind the candidate. At first, it seemed to be just a very large wave, until the surface of the water broke, revealing… a fish?

If it was a fish, then it was a nasty one, as it was the size of a boat and had barnacles growing over the scales on its body. An involuntary gasp escaped my mouth at the sight of this monstrous fish- although it seemed closer to a killer shark. The fish’s teeth, which it bared, came down to sharp points that warned others not to cross with the owner of the fangs. The cause of this fish’s emergence? A loose, circular number plate, which was covering one of the fish’s three eyes. The examinee noticed his missing plate and let out a slightly strangled scream.

In that moment, I almost forgot how to swim. 

All around me, water was being splashed as everyone kicked and swam as far away from the fish as they could, but I couldn’t move. Had it not been for the lifejacket, I probably would have sunk like a rock to the ocean floor, because all movement in my body had ceased.

“Anise, what are you doing!” Skunk was yelling at me. He tugged on the loop attached to my life jacket, pulling me with him as he swam. “We have to get away!”

“What about him!” I choked when I managed to find my voice. The examinee who had lost his badge was still in close proximity to the fish, paralyzed by fear.

“That fish is a Medieval Sea Devil!” Skunk scoffed. “He doesn’t have a chance! If you don’t move, it’ll get you too!”

But there was something about watching the struggling examinee that brought back more of Leorio’s words.

“Sure, you can be selfish, but when someone’s life is on the line, that’s not the time!”

I didn’t realize I had repeated his words out loud until Skunk released his grip on the back of my life jacket. I seized the opportunity to whip out the switchblade and furiously paddle my way back through the waves.

As the fish grew bigger and bigger the closer I came, a small part of my mind screamed. I must be crazy. What could I even do to stop this huge sea monster? Stab it a little? It was almost ironic to compare the size of the fish and the size of my tiny knife, but it was too late to think, too late to regret, as the gap between me and the fish grew smaller-

The fish chomped.

A spray of blood made an arc in the sky as the fish took the head off of the applicant. It took only a second, and a few of the warm drops hit my cheek. 

I couldn’t process it, my mind simply refused to. I knew, somehow, that I had just witnessed a death, but… The fish turned two of its three stupid eyes to aim at me, and in that moment, I saw death. 

Wow, I really did something stupid. And unlike that time in the alley, there was no Ember to swoop in and save me from my demise. I was on my own, and I was going to die.

Well, if I was going to die, I was going to go down fighting. I flicked out the blade in my knife and charged forward. At the very least, I would retrieve the number plate from the fish, and then… 

“Anise!”

I could hear my name being called, but who was calling it? It sounded so close, almost as if the person was right next to me… Wait…

It was Skunk, but not the same Skunk that I had grown to know in the past twenty-four hours. He looked different, very different, but I had no more time to think other than that. Moving incredibly fast even in the water, Skunk was suddenly right next to the Sea Devil, where he slapped both hands on top of the fish.

For some reason, I closed my eyes, and by the time I opened them, the fish was dead.

It all happened in less than a minute, and now Skunk was paddling back to me, holding the dead man’s plate in his hand.

That’s when I realized what was different about Skunk.

He didn’t look 12.

He didn’t look 13, either.

I could still tell, sort of, that I was looking at the same person. His hair still had that white streak, the one that had reminded me of a skunk in the first place, he was wearing the same clothes and his face still had the same sort of… look to it. And yet, it was like he was a different person. His jawline had become sharper, his eyes were more defined, and he was just bigger overall. Hell, I think he was taller than me, although it was hard to tell while floating in the water.

“Is that you, Skunk?” My voice came out small, even though I had meant to yell.

“It doesn’t matter.” His voice was deeper, and certainly not like that of a child. “Let’s go and catch up…”

There wasn’t anything to catch up to- everyone in the group was staring in our direction.

“I wasn’t planning on changing, but you just went and did something stupid, Anise.” He muttered, grabbing me by the wrist. “I think we’re far away enough, though…”

I was still in shock, but I managed to get my arms and legs moving through the water. By the time I looked back at Skunk, he was back to looking the same way I knew him. Had I just imagined the whole thing? No, I was sure I had seen it. The Skunk, but not Skunk.

We all swam back in the direction of the yacht. Salt spray was getting in my eyes and making it hard to see, or maybe I was crying, I didn’t even know anymore. All I knew was that I was cold, wet, and scared.

And that was the first incident of the second phase.

The second incident, in comparison, was not quite as dramatic. Far out from the corpse of the Medieval Sea Devil, we came across an underwater forest of seaweed.

Long, dark tendrils of seaweed tickled my feet as we plodded through the water. Now, it was becoming more obvious that we were all… tired. And cold, freezing. Long ago I had accepted the numbness that came with the ice-cold water, but each stroke I took became harder.

And we were moving slower. It was even more of a challenge to keep up with the supposedly slow pace of the yacht. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like our group was smaller than we began. Had someone been lost to the waves without our notice? Surely, surely, we were nearing the end. 

The seaweed soon became more of an obstacle than I had initially realized as strands fastened themselves around my legs. At first, I could kick off the seaweed with a light jerk of my leg, but the seaweed became more persistent. 

It was at this time the ocean decided to create waves.

Swimming through small and medium sized waves had already been a challenge in itself, and I relied heavily on my lifejacket to keep me above the water’s surface. But one look at the monster of a wave which was approaching made me gulp in terror.

To make matters worse, my feet had been secured in place by the seaweed. I tried to move, to wriggle myself out of the constraints of the plant, but my energy had been pretty much used up by that point. I wasn’t the only one, as a quick glance around me showed that several of my fellow examinees were also entangled in seaweed.

That’s when I remembered. The knife! Leorio’s knife, which I had reattached to my life jacket. In a swift motion, I flicked out the blade and wrenched it underwater, smoothly cutting through the seaweed, just in time to catch the wave.

Even freed from the seaweed, I just about missed catching the wave, and salt water entered my eyes, nose, and mouth until I was a snivelling mess. I just wanted it to end. I thought about the warm, soft bed in the yacht’s suite…

“We’re almost there.” Skunk. I looked back at him, still unable to shake the vision I had earlier from my mind. 

“How do you know that?” My voice came out weakly, after coughing up large amounts of seawater. 

“Because I can see the land.”

He was right. Looming near us was the first landform we had seen since boarding the ship. I wanted to cry in relief. I needed a warm bath, clean clothes, and a cup of fresh water desperately. 

The others in the group seemed to notice the land as well, and the sight sparked an energy burst. The beach came closer, closer, closer, and the next thing I knew I was lying and coughing in the warm, warm sand.

Finally. It was over. The second phase of the exam was complete- and I was still alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I did too great of a job here. It was quite difficult to write about. Nonetheless, here it is.  
> There's more to Skunk than meets the eye.  
> I can tell how inexperienced I am with fanfiction because I'm not even 100% sure what "hits" mean. Is that like a read? lol. I feel like an old lady. I'm not! I promise...  
> I've been re-watching hunter x hunter, to refresh myself on everything. Everyone is so cute in the Hunter Exam arc! It makes me feel sad to think about what's to come.  
> I'm using the chapter notes section incorrectly, aren't I? I'm sorry. I'll leave it here. Till next time.


	8. Skunk's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two move on to the next phase of the exam, and Anise learns what exactly she had seen in the ocean.

The Hunter who was our examiner wasted no time in departing from the yacht and striding up to the many candidates who were spread out on the beach, me included.

“Anyone who is not standing up in five seconds will be disqualified. Five, four, three…”

I wasn’t sure if I even had the drive to get up. This feeling I had was of complete and utter defenselessness, and I felt content to lie there in the sand forever. It was thanks to Skunk, who yanked me up from the ground, that I managed to stand and wobble on my toes while the examiner made her final sweep. I was pretty much covered in sand all over, and a total mess.

“Thanks.” my voice came out in a whisper, not because I wanted to keep quiet, but because I couldn’t physically speak any louder. I could still taste salt water and sand in my parched mouth.

“Pay attention.” He muttered in response, keeping his own focus on the Hunter. I did my best to wordlessly convey my gratitude and followed suit, dragging my eyes over to the examiner.

“Total count: Twenty-seven. Total standing: Nineteen. Total standing, and with badge: Eighteen.” There was a yelp as someone realized they didn’t have their number plate, and general groans from the candidates lying on the ground who hadn’t gotten up in time. I would have pitied them, if I had the energy to even do that.

Eighteen out of twenty-seven had passed the second phase. If we had boarded the yacht with around thirty-five… it was scary to think of what had happened to all the others. I could only hope that the remaining few were safe aboard the yacht and not a nameless body floating in the ocean waves.

“You’ll be allowed an hour to retrieve your items from the yacht and to freshen yourselves up before the start of the third phase. Starting now.” 

Skunk had to literally push me in the direction of the yacht before my feet found the will to move on their own. I was so incredibly tired. Just an hour of rest before the next phase? How would anyone even be able to function with such little rest? How would I?

“Everything is part of the exam.” Skunk reminded me as we walked. He looked just the same as he did on the yacht, albeit drenched and sandier, and despite myself, I couldn’t help but be impressed at how well he had fared. Especially when you compared it to how pathetic I was right now, stumbling over my own feet like a drunkard.

On the yacht, Skunk picked up his gaming system, and I grabbed my small pile of stuff, relieved to see that everything was there and untouched. Then, it was a beeline to the suite room, where I took a relaxing shower and scrubbed the dirt and sand from my hair and body. Coarse grains of yellow sand littered my feet and the drain. 

I stepped into my spare change of clothes and hopped out of the bathroom. The moment I sat down on the bed, it was as if every muscle in my body seized up, and I lost the capacity to move at all. 

“That was horrible.” I groaned, stretched across the bedspread. 

“Your shower?” Skunk asked.

I glared at him from as best I could at the angle I was lying in. “No, idiot. The exam. The swimming. All of it.”

“It wasn’t so bad.” Skunk shrugged. 

“Speaking of which, don’t you have something you need to tell me?” I said before I lost the nerve. “What was that, back there with the Medieval Sea Devil?”

Skunk froze. “I was hoping you didn’t see that.”

“Didn’t see that? How could I not!” I would have waved my arms for more emphasis, but for the moment any movement at all was proving to be very difficult. “One minute, you were far away, and the next, you were right next to me… and taller!” 

“Well, I’d already told you, I’m not… I’m not who you think I am.”

“Then who are you?” I stared at the beams in the ceiling, recalling the same image of Skunk in my mind. The stranger.

“I still can’t tell you that.” Skunk’s voice had suddenly plummeted in tone, and I quickly sat up to get a better look. 

Sitting on the armchair was the Skunk from earlier, the tall Skunk, the older Skunk, the stranger… The Skunk who had saved my life. On jelly legs, I tottered over to him and, with just the tip of my finger, tapped him on the face, as if to check that he was real. My finger making contact on his flesh confirmed it.

“Don’t you recognize me?” this older Skunk grumbled, averting his eyes.

“No?” I was puzzled. “Why? Am I supposed to?”

“You don’t?” His eyes widened and he breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then.”

“Are you famous or something?” I asked him, studying his sharpened facial features and hunting through my limited memory. Sometimes, Leorio and I would watch television, and he would point out different celebrities to me in long-winded explanations that I would only catch parts of. But Skunk’s new face wasn’t bringing any people to mind.

“Or something.” He replied.

“Is this the real you?”

“...Yes.” 

I was dying to know more, but the look on his face gave me the impression that wringing out any more information would be near impossible. I changed my line of questioning.

“Then, how old are you? If you’re not twelve.” 

“Seventeen.” He grimaced. I almost choked in surprise, and fell back onto the mattress. “See, that’s why I didn’t want to go back to this form...”

“Seventeen… What about your real name? I’ve just been calling you Skunk, but-”

“No.” he physically raised his hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. “I can’t.”

“Can you tell me how you do that- change yourself to looking like a kid?” 

“I can’t say that, either.”

“Can you at least tell me why?” At this point, I wanted to know anything, anything at all.

“I’ll put it this way. There’s a lot of benefits to looking like… this” Right before my eyes, he reverted back to his childlike form. It was jarring to witness, to say the least, and impossible to explain what I was witnessing. One second Skunk was built like a teenager, and the next, I was looking at a twelve-year-old boy. “It keeps me low profile, and people don’t expect much out of someone who looks like this. And it… hides my identity.”

“What’s so important about your identity that you can’t let people know about?” I was bewildered. The seventeen-year-old Skunk was far from ugly, and from what I could tell he was definitely physically stronger than the young boy I was currently looking at. From my perspective, it seemed much more advantageous to stay in his original form. So why…?

“That’s enough, Anise.” His tone of voice signalled that this would be the end of the discussion, whether I agreed to it or not. 

Still, to think that Skunk had been seventeen this whole time… that was around my age, wasn’t it… 

“Wait, so you’re saying this entire time I was sharing a room with a- with a-” I couldn’t even finish my sentence, I was so flustered. 

Skunk looked away from me. “I never lied about anything. I told you that I wasn’t what you thought. And I didn’t do anything, so you don’t have to feel so bad.”

I grabbed a pillow and stuffed my face into it so he couldn’t see me turn red. This wasn’t the right time to get all heated about who Skunk really was, anyway- we had a third phase to prepare for. I did my best to clear my head and took a deep breath, then dropped the pillow.

“Fine. I wont ask anymore, then.” I blew out one long breath. “Let’s focus on the next phase of the exam. You’ll still be my ally, won’t you?”

“It’s too late to turn back now.” Skunk replied. “So, yes. Anyway, we’ve still got a bit of time left. Are you sure you’ve got the strength for this? You look… tired.”

Tired was an understatement. Every muscle and bone in my body was screaming at me to give them rest, and taking single steps was an accomplishment in itself. 

“I’ll be fine.” I said with as much false confidence in my voice as I could muster. 

“No, you won’t be.” Skunk said with a frown. “I can’t ally with you if you’ll end up slowing me down.”

“Geez, what’s with this snooty attitude?” I muttered, standing- well, wobbling- defiantly. “I don’t care if you’re seventeen or seven hundred, while you’re in that body I’m your elder and I deserve some respect!” 

“Prove me wrong, then.” he smirked.

“I will.” I retorted. 

“Okay, but I already paid back your favor when I saved you in the water back there.” He pointed out. “I won’t go out of my way to help you another time.”

A favor? That’s right, Skunk had originally only paired up with me as a thank you for stepping in during that first challenge. Now that I thought about it, it didn’t even seem like that big of an event to warrant our strange alliance. I glanced at Skunk, but his expression didn’t reveal anything I didn’t already know. 

“We’re almost out of time. Let’s head out of here.” Skunk said as he looked over to the clock in the yacht’s suite. “We can only hope that we don’t have to fight.”

“Fighting.” I unconsciously placed a hand over my switchblade. “Yeah, I don’t want to do that.”

I followed Skunk down and out of the yacht, watching the way his footsteps hit the ground. In my head, I was replaying our conversation. Skunk… 

The examiner from the second phase was standing on the dock, and I saw the cluster of other examinees who had made it thus far. Some of them looked almost as exhausted as I did, while others looked as spry and ready for action as Skunk. 

Standing next to the second phase’s examiner was another person, who I presumed to be the Hunter examining us for the next phase. This Hunter looked just as eccentric as all the other Hunters I had encountered so far, as he had some of the longest hair I could have imagined to be possible on a human. Even braided, it touched the ground and dragged behind him. Some part of me was curious as to how that kind of hair would feel when touched. 

Once we had all been gathered, the long-haired Hunter clapped his hands together.

“I’ll be your examiner for the third phase. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I am a Treasure Hunter.” 

Next to me, Skunk shifted uncomfortably. 

“There’s a small town off of this beach.” the Hunter continued, and he pulled something out of his- out of his hair? - and raised it to show us. It was what looked like money, a rectangular shaped piece of plastic paper, but instead of being the color I knew money to be, it was bright red. 

“These fake bills are your objective. Some are hidden around the town, some have been entrusted to the villagers, and so on. The phase will end in five days- anyone who has less than one hundred-thousand Jenny’s worth will be disqualified.”

So, no fighting. I breathed a sigh of relief. Treasure-hunting for fake money didn’t seem to be so bad, either. This stage of the Hunter exam seemed surprisingly doable.

“We’ll be fine, right, Skunk?” I looked over, but Skunk’s face looked stricken. I had never seen him look like this, and it almost scared me. “Skunk? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” He told me, but his voice seemed pressed.

Now, the long-haired Treasure Hunter was handing us stacks of these red bills. It took me a moment to count my way through the different number values on the papers. I was handed roughly 25,000 Jenny’s worth of the fake money. Everyone else seemed to have gotten this amount, too.

“There are no rules, but please note that if any harm comes to the town or its people, you will be disqualified. And, one more thing.” The Treasure Hunter smiled, his eyes glinting. “You are, of course, free to acquire the money from your fellow participants.”

“Bastard, that means fighting and you know it” Skunk whisper-yelled. His shaking fist tightened around his own stack of money.

“We just need to avoid conflict, right?” I voiced aloud, but Skunk didn’t respond.

“I’ll send you each into town within two minutes of each other, in the order of your number plates. Please keep them during the duration of your stay here, although you do not need to wear them at all times. However, losing your number plate will result in a disqualification.”

A few people stuffed their badges away at this, me included, and we gathered into a haphazard line. By now, our line-up order came almost as a second nature. I felt eyes on me- everyone was sizing each other up, gauging who would be easy to steal from, probably. Skunk and I might be in trouble- I was a teenaged girl who could barely stand on her own two feet from all of the swimming, and Skunk looked like a little kid right now. Visually, we appeared easy targets. 

“Anise, I’ll wait for you at the town entrance.” Skunk said quietly, pocketing his stack of cash. I nodded and gave him a little thumbs up. 

When it came his turn, I watched him disappear into the distance. After the next two minutes were up, I was signalled to go, and followed the path he had taken. I walked slowly, wincing after each step as soreness began to set in my legs.

The little town was remarkably quaint, and I would have been able to appreciate it much more if the Hunter Exam was put aside. From every position in the town, there was a view of the sparkling blue ocean. Houses and cottages were constructed from wood weathered in the wind, and pathways were made from wooden planks as opposed to oppressive concrete. Seashells were pressed into many of the walls, and every surface seemed to have a light coating of sand.

Skunk was waiting exactly where he said he would be, underneath the large arch at the entrance to the town. He had his arms folded and a nearly hostile look on his face.

“Skunk!” I called over to him, speeding my pace up ever so slightly. He acknowledged me with a nod of his head.

“There you are.” He said when I was within a few feet. “That was slow.”

“I’m sorry, my legs…” He didn’t even let me finish speaking before he began moving. “Hey, wait-”

“Do you have your knife?” Skunk asked as we started walking through the streets. 

“Yeah, it’s right here.” I slid Leorio’s switchblade out of my pocket and flicked the blade open for Skunk to see.

“Good. Keep that handy.” His eyes panned back and forth. “Let’s get out of here before the others come.”

“Alright…” Skunk seemed unusually on edge. Did he really think I was so defenseless? And besides, with the way he handled that Medieval Sea Devil earlier, I was pretty sure he could handle himself if there was an attack. “Skunk, are you okay?”

“What?” He blinked and looked at me. “Of course I am. Something is bothering me, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.” Skunk hesitated. “If anything, I’m more worried about you.”

“Me?” I wondered. “Oh, I’m perfectly fine.”

“It’s your voice.” Skunk said shortly. “It’s a little off. I think you might have a cold.”

“No, no.” I waved him off. “I’m just tired, that’s all. I don’t want to make you worry.”

“Well, it would be a problem for me if you collapsed with a fever.” Skunk said pointedly, “So that’s why I’m worried.”

That’s right. Geez, I sure was self-centered. It was presumptuous of me to assume that Skunk had my personal interests in mind. We weren’t even friends, anyway- in Skunk’s words, we were allies, nothing more and nothing less. That moment in the water was only for his conscience…

“So, what's the plan?” I asked him brightly, more conscious now of my slightly nasally voice.

“It’s the setup to this phase that worries me. There’s been a lack of hand-to-hand combat involved in the tests so far, and I’m surprised at the docility of each phase.” Skunk’s face scrunched up in thought. “If this test is only about collecting money from things like treasure, like the examiner said, why even make it an option to steal from each other?”

“In the swimming test, we also had the option to steal plates from each other, but no one did anything.” I suggested. “Maybe this group is just-”

“No, the reason nothing happened then is because there was no benefit to stealing a plate in the first place.” Skunk muttered. “It would be a waste of precious energy to disqualify others when there is no immediate benefit to you.”

I guess that made sense, but I still couldn’t exactly follow Skunk’s line of thinking. Maybe I was feeling the effects of the sun from being in the water for so long, because I kept feeling like my brain was short-circuiting…

“Anise. Anise!” Skunk was shaking me. I blinked. We were both standing still. Why did we stop walking?

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, bewildered.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong?’” Skunk demanded. “You just froze in the middle of the street!” 

A few people, residents of the town probably, were beginning to take notice. I could feel stares being directed towards us, although I couldn;t determine whether the stares were hostile or merely inquisitive.

“That’s enough. You need some rest before we can do anything.” Skunk said, and pulled at my arm. “Let’s find a place for you to lie down.”

“I told you, I’m just fine…” I mumbled, but even I could tell that my voice was a little off, and my words slurring ever so slightly. “I’m… just… tired...”

I couldn’t even say the last words before I blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never expected the Hunter Exam to take so long. There's five more chapters of this... I'm sorry, it's boring, isn't it?  
> Anyway, I know this story has been pretty OC-filled, but we'll just have to see what happens next...


	9. Fever Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anise has an odd dream.  
> (That's it. that's the summary.)

Where was I?

A bed? The sheets were white, almost too white, starched to the point where the fabric crinkled at my movements. White was all around me, even down to the vase of the flowers resting in front of the large window, the petals providing the only splash of color to the rest of the whitewashed room.

The flower vase… it triggered a memory, a memory of a chattering intern in a nurse’s uniform.

“Yo.” 

I blinked, and sitting on a chair next to my bed was a man I instantly recognized.

“Leorio?” I asked, squinting at his face. Where did he come from? And what was he doing here? 

“Anise!’ Another voice. From the foot of my bed- Ember?

“What’s going on?” I swung my head back and forth, and asked the first question that came to mind. “Is Skunk here?”

Both Ember and Leorio gave me confused faces.

“I don’t understand. Why am I back here?” I tried to push aside the blankets and swing out my feet, but the moment I started to move, both Ember and Leorio jumped into action, pushing me back onto the thin mattress. I struggled for a moment, but it was clear that the two weren’t about to let go. “I don’t get it!”

“What don’t you get?”

Suddenly Leorio and Ember were gone. Not just them- the entire room was gone, maybe. The bed was still there, and I still perched upon it, but the scenery around me had changed from the oppressive atmosphere of a hospital to the bright, open freshness of the outside. Green grass, without a single dry patch, stretched out endlessly, and a vibrant blue sky topped the universe. 

The speaker in question was someone who had their back turned to me. I made out a loosely wound blue scarf and a disheveled green hat with tufts of hair poking through. Familiar. So, so, familiar… Where had I seen him before?

And then he turned around.

“Ging!” I involuntarily said.

He appeared just as he had looked in that video Ember had shown me. Maybe taller than I had expected, perhaps, but definitely the same man. I went to move, to get off of this hospital bed, but I couldn’t manage to work even a muscle.

“What you’re trying is dangerous.” Ging didn’t even bother to look at me as he said this. In his hands, I realized, was the vase from the hospital room, with the flowers that intern had so carefully arranged when I had woken up that first time. But he held the vase roughly, the flower stems shaken to a new, imprecise arrangement.

“Anyway, you should stop. Trying to get back your memories, that is.” He finally turned to look at me, but when I looked at his eyes, there was something that seemed amiss. They were directed at me, but I got the feeling he wasn’t really seeing me. My own reflection didn’t appear in the shine of his eyes. “Forget about me, and move on. You don’t need to remember, so stop. You shouldn’t come and find me. Actually, I don’t want you to find me.”

No! Was what I wanted to retort, but my mouth was just as frozen as the rest of me. 

“So, that’s all.” As he strode off, Ging dropped the vase. I watched it shatter into an uncountable number of pieces, and then each piece morphed into a horrendous spider.

Ging walked away as the spiders climbed up the sheets, marching in an army towards me.

I screamed.

In cold sweat, I jolted awake. A dream?

“Anise!” It was Skunk. Or was it? No, that was Skunk, but it wasn’t the young one- it was his real self. “You woke up!”

My head was pounding as the last image of Ging swam before my eyes. It was just a dream, right? But it was almost like I could still feel the presence of the hundreds of crawling black spiders, slowly making their way up towards me.

“Skunk.” My voice came out weak and strained from my parched throat. “What happened?”

“You idiot, what do you think happened?” I was still not quite used to this Skunk’s deeper voice, and it threw me off a bit. “I knew you were sick. Anyway, lie back down. Everything’s fine.” He handed me a glass of water, which I gulped down gratefully.

“What’s going on?” I set down the glass and tried to peek at the curtains, but there seemed to only be darkness behind them. Was it night already? How long had it been since… “And why are you older now?”

“Well, I can’t stay looking like a kid all the time. It takes a lot of energy.”

“Energy?”

“Well, duh. What do you think I’m using to maintain that form?” 

That made sense in its own way, but I could tell there was more to it then Skunk was letting on. 

“Can you tell me what happened? Where are we?” I could gauge that we were in some kind of inn or hotel room from the layout, but I figured out nothing beyond that.

“You passed out in the middle of the street.” Skunk said. “So, I brought you to this inn.”

“I passed out?” I thought back, embarrassed. All of that swimming must have been too much for me. “What about this room? We don’t have any real money to pay for it, do we?”

“They accepted these.” He waved the plastic red bills we had been given by the examiner. 

“How much?” 

“5,000 Jenny per night.”

I covered my gaping mouth. 5,000? We began with only 25,000 each! 

“Then, let’s get out of here! We can’t lose any more money.” I struggled up and pulled aside the bedcovers. “How many days do we have left?”

“Three.” Skunk sighed. 

“Three? But that means I was asleep for…” 

“Almost two days.” He answered for me. “I think you slept off the sickness, though. I mean, you didn’t wake up when the fever was at its worst point.”

“I didn’t?” I rubbed my eyes and stared down at the blankets. “I’m so sorry. I’ve just been a hindrance for you this whole time.”

“I already told you, it’s fine.” Skunk wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “And, you know, we’re friends, right? So, I wasn’t just going to leave you…”

I wanted to burst into tears right then and there. Skunk had called us friends. 

“Aww, Skunk.” I did my best to keep from breaking out into a smile. 

“So, who’s Leorio, Ember, and Ging?” Skunk asked me, looking a little sheepish himself. “You were saying those names in your sleep.”

That weird dream had already started to fade away, but… 

“They’re some people who have helped me. Leorio’s my friend, a Hunter, and he's pre-med. He helped me prepare for the exam, and gave me my knife.” At the mention of the knife, I reached for where I had been keeping it, only to come up empty-handed. “Hey, wait, where is it?”

“I put it over here.” Skunk grabbed the switchblade in question off the nightstand, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want you accidentally stabbing yourself when you were sleeping.”

“Thanks.” I gripped the knife for reassurance. “That’s Leorio. He helped me a lot. Ember is a Hunter I met when I escaped the hospital, and-”

“You escaped a hospital?” Skunk interrupted. “What?”

“Oh. Did I not tell you about my amnesia?” 

Skunk’s wide, bewildered eyes informed me that I had not, in fact, filled him in on this information. 

“Come to think of it, I guess I never told you why I want to be a Hunter. Since we’re friends now, I’ll tell you.” It was a little satisfying to see Skunk so caught off guard, even if it was on this less familiar teenage face. “A while ago, I woke up in the hospital, and I couldn’t remember anything from before.”

“So you decided to break out?” Skunk asked, scrunching his face up. “That’s-”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Apparently, I’m a survivor from the Aspen factory explosion, and I was saved by a pro Hunter. His name is Ging Freecss, and I’ve been trying to find him. That’s why I’m taking the Hunter exam.”

Skunk shook his head in disbelief. “You’re officially crazy, Anise.”

“Hey, at least I don’t shapeshift into a child.” I pointed out. “Well, why are you taking the exam?”

I didn’t expect him to answer, especially since he had been secretive about everything about himself up until that point. But to my surprise, he nodded.

“There’s a lot of reasons, but I guess the first is that my family is trying to push me into an arranged marriage.” He made a disgusted face as he said this. “They’re going to set me up with someone that I have no say in.”

“Really?” Now this was interesting. 

“Yeah. I figured if I cleared out for a while, they might leave me alone.” Skunk said. “The other reason is that there’s a video game I’m interested in playing.”

“What does that have to do with becoming a Hunter?”

“The game’s supposed to be Hunters-only, so… You probably haven’t heard of it- Greed Island?”

Greed Island… Actually, I had heard of that before… Where? 

“Oh!” I brought my fist down on my palm upon realization “That’s right, Leorio told me something about it!”

“The pre-med guy?”

“Yeah!” I said excitedly. “He, Gon, and Killua were trying to purchase a copy at the Yorknew Auction!”

“Did you just say Killua?”

The expression on his face was one difficult to understand, but he appeared genuinely distressed at the sound of the name.

“Yes, he’s one of Leorio’s friends…” I explained, carefully watching Skunk’s face. “Do you know him? I think his name was Killua Zoldyck-”

“No. No, I don’t know him.” Skunk said eventually, looking anywhere but at me. Out of all of his lies, this was the most obvious so far, but I decided to drop the subject rather than continue walking on eggshells. 

“So, they were trying to purchase a copy!” I restated, hoping a more uplifting tone would drag Skunk out of whatever mood the name had put him into. It seemed to work, Skunk shivering and bringing his attention back towards me.

“Purchase a copy? There’s only a few copies floating around out there.” 

“Well, yeah. But here’s the thing, the game was actually made by Gon’s dad! Ging! You know, the guy I’m trying to find!”

“Well, if you want to play it with me, I have a copy of it.” Skunk suggested. “After we become Hunters, that is.”

“You have a copy?” I gasped. “But, Leorio said they were going for billions of Jenny in the auction-”

“I have a copy of it.” Skunk repeated, ignoring my statement. “So, are you interested?”

“Of course!” I rubbed my hands together. “It might be a big clue to Ging! And to Gon, too.”

“Who’s Gon, again?” Skunk asked.

“It’s a long story.” 

“Well, it’s the middle of the night, it’s not like we have anywhere to go.” Skunk motioned to the curtains covering the darkened windows. 

He was right, but I felt a little weird telling him everything. Sure, we had apparently crossed the threshold into becoming friends, but I still barely knew anything about him, and he already knew a lot about me. Even so, I felt compelled to launch into the full story- starting from where my memories began, to meeting with Ember, to Merry’s talisman, to ‘training’ with Leorio, and finally, to the Hunter exam.

“And that’s all of my memories.” I concluded.

“Wow.” Skunk leaned back in his chair, staring at me as if in a new light. “That’s certainly a story.”

“Mhm!” I smiled. “So when will you tell me yours?”

“Uh, someday.” Skunk said. “I’ll even tell you my name. But not now. I can’t… I can’t yet.”

“Fine, have it your way. But anyway, we should probably make a plan for the exam phase. It’s almost light out. What have you been doing while I was asleep?”

“I just stayed here.” Skunk shrugged. “I told you, I wasn’t just going to leave you here all alone with a fever-”

“So you didn’t find out anything about the treasure? Or how to get Jenny?” 

“Well, no.” He brought out his stack of the fake money. “And, I’m down 10,000 Jenny for the room, since this is the second night.”

“I’m sorry about that!” I apologized again. “You can take some from my stash, since I’m the one who needed the room anyway.”

“It doesn’t really matter.” Skunk said lightly. “What matters is that you’re better now. Let’s just focus our remaining time on getting more Jenny.” 

“Sounds good!” I climbed out of the bedsheets, feeling weak but recharged. “Let’s go!”

“Is it morning already?” Skunk stood up and pulled aside the curtains, revealing the first traces of sunlight. “Are you sure you don’t need any more rest?”

“Nope, see? I’m well-rested and ready for action!” To show him, I did a few stretches and worked the stiffness out of my body. “Completely recovered and ready to go!”

“Fine, fine. Come on, Anise.” I could have sworn he was laughing, but he had his face away from me so I couldn’t be sure.

“Of course!”

“Oh, that’s right, I’ve gotta change back.” A second later, and the Skunk standing in front of me took on the appearance of the Skunk five years younger. I had almost gotten used to the appearance of the other Skunk, so it was weird to see the young one again. 

“How do you do that?” I asked him again, but he didn’t answer and I sighed. “Oh, well.”

And we headed out, my head still full of our conversation- and of the mysterious Ging from my dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this chapter much either just from a personal standpoint, but there's some important stuff I had to put in. I must work on dialogue! Yikes. 
> 
> "The real treasure was the friends we made along the way" -Anise and Skunk right now, I guess.


	10. Beach Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exam brings forth conflict and treasure.

I wasn’t expecting to see bloodshed so early in the morning.

Skunk and I approached a group that had gathered into a wobbly circle, only to realize that they were all fixated on something- no, someone- lying in the middle of the sandy street. A pool of blood colored the ground, flowering out from the chest of a fallen man.

“He’s from our group.” Skunk muttered, pointing the number badge affixed to the body’s clothing. I recognized him by sight as one of the first among the selection of examinees and shuddered.

“Is he dead?” I whispered back, not wanting to believe it. 

“I’ll check.”

Skunk pushed his way through the crowd, an impressive feat considering his smaller size, and strolled up to the body. I heard murmurs among the crowd as Skunk crouched next to the man and took his pulse.

“He’s gone.” Skunk pronounced. 

Even after I had looked away from the corpse, the image of the body was still burned into the back of my eyelids. I thought back to the man who was decapitated by the Medieval Sea Devil in the second phase. The Hunter exam seemed to have no qualms with the participants dying off like this.

“You okay?” Skunk asked me. He was next to me again. 

“Yeah… It’s just sad, and scary.” I said. “Was he killed for the money?”

“Yup, I think so.” Skunk replied. “There wasn’t any of the fake Jenny left on him. We should be careful, Anise.”

“I already know that.” Taking a life, just to get some fake plastic money? What could have driven someone to go that far? “How are we supposed to get more Jenny, though? I don’t want to steal from anybody.”

“Let’s ask around.” Skunk suggested. “The Treasure Hunter said that some of the townspeople had it, right?”

He pulled out one of the bills and slipped into the crowd, returning after a few minutes.

“No one seems to recognize it.” He said. “But they recommend that we go to the market on the main street. There’s a lot of vendors there, and get this- some of them buy and sell treasure.”

“Then, let’s go.” 

“We need a plan before we charge in there, Anise. We have sixteen- no, now it’s fifteen- other exam candidates to worry about. What if they also go to the market and decide to attack us?”

“Oh, that’s right.” Nothing ever seemed to be easy in this exam. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Not quite…” Skunk tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well, we’ll probably be fine, as long as we’re cautious. We don’t want to end up like… him.” 

My eyes darted to the fallen candidate, and I gulped. “Let’s go.” I told him before I lost my resolve.

The market was cozier than I had expected, and despite having come from a murder scene, I found myself enjoying the ambiance of the morning air. The soft rumbling of the ocean could just about be heard. If anything, it was… peaceful.

Market vendors were equipped with an assortment of local fruits, veggies, and handmade crafts. If it weren’t for Skunk, I might have forgotten the Hunter exam completely, and browsed the market as if I were one of the townspeople- or perhaps an overexcited tourist.

“Remember what we’re here for.” Skunk hissed, pulling at the sleeve of my sweater to get me to move away from a booth that specialized in exotic honey. “Keep on the lookout for any treasure booths, or any of that red Jenny.”

“Yeah, I know.” I replied. “Do you see any other examinees?”

Skunk did another quick survey of the area with his eyes, then shook his head. “No, although that does concern me”

“It’s a good thing, right? We can avoid conflict this way.”

“Not necessarily. It might just mean we’re on the wrong track.” Skunk frowned. “Or, we might just be too late. You did sleep through two of our usable days.” 

“Hey, is that it over there?” I quickly changed the topic by pointing to one of the booths towards the end of the row. Rather than food or handicrafts, the stall consisted of a dirited white blanket laid out on the street and cluttered with objects that gleamed in the sunlight. The stall seemed to be managed by a wizened old man who sat stiller than any statue.

Skunk made a beeline for the booth, with me trailing uncertainly behind him. 

“Excuse me, is this one of those stalls where you buy and sell treasure?” Skunk crouched in front of the booth, feigning inspection of the items on the cloth. I sank down next to him, intrigued by some of what I saw. 

“Indeed, little boy.” The old man smiled toothlessly at Skunk while I examined a long cigar pipe plated with gold. “Are you interested in any of this?”

“Actually, I’m more interested in what currency you accept.” Skunk pulled out a wad of the red Jenny and showed it to the man. 

“Ah, I see, I see.” The old man stroked his beard. “Indeed, I can trade for Jenny of this kind. Is there anything you see here that interests you? Or perhaps… you have something you want to sell?” His milky eyes glinted.

“Where does this treasure come from?” Skunk asked, without missing a beat. 

“All over, young sir. But most of it has been sourced from our own little beach.” He pointed a gnarled finger in the direction of the ocean. “Years and years of shipwrecks, you see.”

“Alright, old man.” Skunk straightened up and got to his feet. “So all we gotta do is bring you some treasure, right?”

“Of course.” He said, cracking a smile. 

“Thanks. C’mon, Anise.” Skunk beckoned me up and I got to my feet, setting down what I was examining. 

“Oh, and one more thing, little ones.” Skunk and I, about to depart, refocused our attention on the man, who’s face had hardened. “You are not the first ones to come bearing that money of yours.”

“I know that.” Skunk replied. 

“Surely you know what this means.” 

“I… am aware.” 

“Good. Run along now, little ones.” 

The whole exchange had left me confused, but Skunk took off in the direction of the beach without even a moment of hesitation.

“What was that?” I asked once I managed to catch up to him. “What did that old man mean?”

“First of all, we’re on the right track.” Skunk said. “Other people are treasure-hunting to trade in for the fake Jenny, so we’re approaching this correctly. But…”

“But?” I prodded.

“But, if there’s others who are treasure hunting along the same beach as us, we’ll have more competition, and there might be some clashing.”

“Basically, you’re saying we might have to fight.” I stated, feeling a sour taste in my mouth. “This phase isn’t just about finding treasure.”

“Plus, the others have had a head start against us.” Skunk pointed out yet again. 

“I’m sorry for sleeping through it.” I hung my head. “That’s my fault.”

“Well, I’m not going to say it isn’t your fault, but it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s good that you’re safe and rested. Now, let’s get started, shall we?”

I smiled and watched Skunk’s back as we walked. Even if he was a teenager in that kid’s body, and even if he was a little snarky, I was glad that I had met him. During my time with Leorio, he had often told me that he only passed the exam because of the help he had received from Kurapika, Gon, and Killua. And if I myself managed to pull off passing the exam, I was positive that it would be because of the aid Skunk had given me.

Since it was the middle of the day, Skunk and I weren’t the only ones out in the sand. It also seemed that we weren’t the only ones here for the treasure- I watched as a man equipped in a scuba outfit made a clean dive into the ocean, a pouch at his waist overflowing with gold chains. Other beach-goers laid on blankets, and a few children were gathered around a wobbly sand castle.

“I don’t see anyone from the exam here.” Skunk said with a sigh of relief. “Let’s get to looking, quickly.”

“We don’t have any gear, though.” I said, looking down at my outfit. “And I’m not dressed for swimming. I can change-”

“We won’t need that.” Skunk held up a hand. “I have a better idea.”

He crouched and nestled his knees into the sand, and then stared intently into the ocean. 

“Skunk, what are you doing?” I asked, to no response. He didn’t move even a muscle or acknowledge me in the slightest.

Even though I hadn’t a clue what he was doing, I was feeling a strange atmosphere coming from him. Somehow, my mind wandered back to sitting across from Ember in the cafe, watching her turn water blue. 

“Got it.” Skunk stood up, and shoved something into my hands- his game system? “Wait here.”

I stood in place, stunned, as Skunk ran straight into the water. What was he doing? Within a few seconds, the tips of his hair disappeared, and I was standing there, alone.

Finally, Skunk re-emerged, his little head bobbing around for a moment before a wave pushed him to shore, completely drenched but intact. I rushed over to him, unsure of what exactly had just taken place.

“What did you do?” I asked. In response, Skunk held up something shiny. “That’s-”

“Correct!” The boy said proudly. “Treasure!”

The treasure he held was apparently a bejeweled dagger, and I was surprised at the preserved quality of the item, for having been found in the ocean. The blade itself still seemed sharp, and glinted in the sun, as did the many colored jewels set into the ornate handle. I couldn’t spot any rust or breakdown anywhere on the dagger.

“How- where- what?” I wasn’t even sure what to ask. How had Skunk found this? DId it have something to do with him staring into the sea beforehand?

“This should get us a good amount of Jenny, I think.” Skunk rubbed the flat of the blade with his thumb. “Nice and clean, too. Here, wanna see?”

I held out my hand eagerly, but as Skunk handed over the dagger, there came a whirl of commotion. From behind, a loud voice shouted, “Get them!”

One minute I was feeling the coolness of the dagger against my hand, and the next, I was being thrust down, the blade cutting a large slit in my palm as I went down. From the corner of my eye I watched Skunk’s video game land with a thump beside me.

Face-down in the sand, feeling the grit of it against my teeth, I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, only that someone was placing enormous pressure on my back and that I couldn’t move. The place on my hand where the dagger cut me was burning, and I felt blood ooze freely from the wound.

“And what do you bastards want?” I heard Skunk growl, somehow making the pre-pubescent voice he had sound intimidating. I could only imagine what sort of scene was taking place. 

“Just that fancy knife of yours. Hand it over to us, and we won't harm the girlie over here.” It was a gruff, scratchy, and mean voice that spoke. Then a chuckle. “I knew it would pay off to just sit tight and wait for this little boy to do the dirty work for us. He took down the Sea Devil, after all.”

So I was the ‘girlie’ they were referring too? Anger rose in my stomach. With enough effort, I managed to turn my head just enough to peek at what was going on. There were two men, who I instantly recognized as being part of the group of candidates. One hulked threateningly over Skunk while the other had been tasked with using his weight to keep me pinned to the ground. I couldn’t see Skunk from the angle my head was positioned, but at the very least, he seemed untouched by the men. 

My mouth had dried of all words, and I felt helpless. Even though I burned with the urge to fight back, the reality of the situation was that I didn’t know what I could do to help.

“Release her.” Skunk said coldly, but his words didn’t seem to deter the opponents at all.

“No, I don’t think we will.” The first man said cockily. “Hand over the dagger and then we’ll talk.”

I had to do something. I still had my arms, so I slowly pulled my uninjured hand closer to my body and found the rugged handle of the switchblade. I would draw it in three… two…

On ‘one,’ I yanked my hand up and out, blindly aiming for whatever was holding me down. In the same moment, I heard the scuffle of two sets of footsteps- Skunk’s and one other. Sand was flying everywhere, blurring my vision, but I kept swinging until the blade made contact with something and the pressure against my back released somewhat. 

“Damn you!” It must have been the voice of the man constraining me. I used some of the strength I had left to propel myself up and shove away from the captor, holding my knife up at the ready. 

I was breathing heavily, but at least, I had freed myself. My shaking hand was holding the switchblade out in front of me, poised at the man who was now clutching on to his ear. Had I stabbed him there? I couldn’t be sure- everything had happened so fast. The man, with a hand still clenched over his ear, toppled over, rustling the sand underneath him as he fell unconscious.

“Anise!” It was only then that I realized Skunk had already incapacitated the first man, who was lying on the sand. How had he done that? I couldn’t see any visible wounds or damage, but he was clearly unconscious. Still alive, too, I noted, by the heavy rising and falling of his burly chest.

“Wow, I guess I’m impressed.” Skunk stepped over the unconscious men towards me. “You disarmed him yourself. I was going to help you, but…”

“That was scary.” I whispered. “They were… hunting us.”

“No kidding.” Skunk said. He spun the jewel-encrusted dagger around in his hand- the dagger that had caused this commotion in the first place. The dagger was handed to me andhe knelt to pick up his fallen gaming console. “All’s well that ends well, I suppose.” 

“Yeah.” I lifted up my injured hand to inspect. Luckily, the cut didn’t seem too bad.

“Oh, you’re hurt.” Skunk noticed. “You should bandage that up.”

“Yeah.” I muttered, wiping at the blood. “So, should we check them for Jenny?” I pointed with the dagger cautiously, as if the two men were about to wake up and attack us. 

“Yeah.” Skunk tucked his video game back into his pocket, and both of us huddled around the breathing bodies. “Check the pockets, shoes, everything.”

A part of me felt strange about pawing through the two adult men, but considering the situation, I shook off any thoughts that clouded my mind. If anything, what concerned me the most was how Skunk had handled everything. How had he found the treasure dagger? And how had he knocked out the attacker?

After a thorough search, Skunk and I counted through all the Jenny we had acquired. 

“Dang, I thought they might have more on them.” Skunk scratched his head. “But it’s just the standard 25,000 per person.”

“Oh, I found this.” I held up a locket that was hung on a long, rusted metal chain. “Do you think this counts as treasure?”

“Take it, just in case.” 

“Did you notice them on the beach?” I asked him as we pocketed the goods. “It’s like they came out of nowhere.”

“I lowered my guard since I was swimming.” Skunk sighed. “Sorry, Anise. I should have seen this coming.”

“It’s fine.” I spat out some spare sand that had found its way into my mouth. “Although I would prefer not to do that again.”

“Hopefully, we won’t have to. With Jenny from these guys as well as that dagger, we’ll be pretty close to the goal of 100,000 Jenny each.”

“Do you really think the dagger is worth that much?” I looked over the bejeweled knife doubtfully. 

“I just know it is. Trust me, when it’s about quality, I would know.”

“By the way, I don’t get what you were doing before you got in the water.” I said. “You were just sitting there.”

I could just tell from Skunk’s expression that he was about to evade the question, and I sighed.

“That’s just, um-”

“Does it have anything to do with that nen stuff?”

“Do you know about it?”

“Not exactly.” I admitted. Actually, after seeing Ember’s use of it, I had begged Leorio to tell me more about it, and he had refused. I was still left in the dark about what it was, exactly, and what it could do. But what I did know was that most of the information was locked behind the status of a Hunter. “But how do you know? Isn’t that supposed to be Hunter’s knowledge?”

Skunk stayed quiet, but I persisted.

“And is it that nen stuff that causes you to look all young like this?” I motioned my hands up and down to show Skunk’s small stature and looks. 

“Stop.” Skunk grabbed the dagger from me and stalked off in the direction of the market. “You’re asking questions I can’t give you the answer to.”

I sighed. It was only inevitable- it wasn’t like Skunk was notorious for his information-sharing. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. 

“Fine, fine.” I followed Skunk, swinging the locket that I had found. “I’ll stop. For now. But I’ll worm the truth out of you soon, trust me!”

“Sure… sure you will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This phase is vaguely inspired by the small portion of the Yorknew Arc where Gon and Killua were looking for items to sell at the auction with Zepile. I must say I can't compete with Togashi's creativity for this stuff. 
> 
> I wish Tonpa were here, but I really doubted his ability to make it this far. Sorry, Tonpa... completely missing from the story... 
> 
> Next chapter has a cameo from a character I almost forgot existed until my rewatch of Hunter x Hunter. But it only made sense for him to be there... 
> 
> Until then... Thank you for making it this far.


	11. A Heavy Price

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anise and Skunk round off the phase with appraisals and cats.

“40,000 Jenny for this dagger.”

I nodded, thinking it to be a fair price, but one glance at Skunk’s face proved that he wasn’t as happy about the deal as I was.

“Come on, this dagger is worth much more!” Skunk argued, yanking back on the item. “Look at the quality of the gems and the handle. It’s worth at least double, if not more.”

The old man shook his head. “I’m sorry, little boy, but this is a modern piece. Looking into the condition of the item, it seems to be a replica, and not an original.”

“Skunk, it’s fine, right? We can always go and find some more treasure-” I tried to ease the tension, but it seemed my words had no effect. 

“At the very most, 50,000 Jenny. I cannot pay anything beyond that.” The old man conceded, but his mouth had formed into a small smile. 

“Hey, kids, this guy’s ripping you off.” A shadow cast over us, and I turned around to see a man standing there. 

He was definitely part of our group. Although he wasn’t wearing his number badge, I remembered his face from the earlier phases, a face defined by sharp sideburns and thick, curving eyebrows. 

The man crouched next to us and picked up the dagger in question. After examining it for a few moments, he cleared his throat.

“This one may be a replica, but the insignia on the bottom indicates it to be professional work. Furthermore, all of the jewels are authentic, and set in place with precision.” The man spoke with authority. “I myself am a professional appraiser, so I can guarantee this.”

Skunk nodded along. “See?”

“Well then, I see that I have been incorrect.” The old man smiled a bit more and took back the dagger. “100,000 Jenny, then?”

Skunk and I grinned at each other as the old man of the treasure booth slowly counted out a stack of red Jenny. I did a quick mental count. If we split the Jenny from the dagger 50/50, I would have 100,000 Jenny, and Skunk would have around 90,000. All we needed was about 10,000 Jenny more to go, and we would be set.

I turned to the stranger who had stepped in. “Thank you so much for your help!”

“It’s not a problem. I couldn’t stand by and watch you two get scammed.” our helper said humbly. 

“Most people wouldn’t have helped. You must be a kind person.” Skunk said, stashing away his stack of bills. “I mean, since you’re also participating in the exam.”

“I’ve built a career around honest appraisals, it wouldn’t be right for me to do anything else.” 

I tucked the last red Jenny into my pocket and held out my good hand for an introductory handshake. “My name is Anise, this is Skunk. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

Slightly startled, he shook back. “Name’s Zepile.”

Zepile… I felt that I had heard that somewhere.

“Do you happen to know Leorio Paladiknight, by chance?” I questioned. If I had heard the name before, it was probably through one of Leorio’s stories, so I figured it was a safe question to ask.

“Oh, that’s right.” Zepile said. “We were drinking buddies once. How did you know?”

“I’m a friend of Leorio. He must’ve told me… Let’s see, was it during the auction?”

Zepile nodded.

“Let’s talk somewhere else.” Skunk interrupted, glancing around. “There’s a lot of people here. And I’m still wet from swimming, I don’t want to just stand around here.”

“Oh! Right.” We shuffled off from the booth, but after only a few steps I quickly pivoted. “Wait, I didn’t get this locket appraised.”

“Perhaps you could show it to me?” Zepile suggested. “I cannot give you any money in return, but I can give you a good estimate on what price to sell it.”

I handed him the rusted locket and watched as he expertly turned it over in his hand. But before long, he had handed the locket back to me and shrugged.

“I’m sorry, but this one is pretty useless.”

“Are you sure?” Skunk snatched the locket from my hands and dangled it in front of him, staring intently like he had done at the beach. But his face fell only a few seconds later. “Oh, he’s right. I guess you should just throw this one out.”

“I don’t know, it’s sort of pretty, don’t you think?” I tried to rub off a bit of the dirt and rust, to reveal some of the shine from behind the layers. “What makes you say that it’s worthless?”

“It’s cheaply made. I suppose you could get a few hundred Jenny from it, but it’s probably too much hassle.” Zepile said. “Of course, you can keep it for yourself, but it seems like it’s been sitting at the bottom of the sea for quite some time.”

“Well, it might be good to put Merry’s talisman in.” I lifted the pouch hanging around my neck to compare to the size of the locket. If I was lucky, it would just about fit inside. 

“Don’t you think it’s creepy to carry around the hair of a dead girl that has nothing to do with you?” Skunk said.

“Not really.” I readjusted the pouch and pocketed the locket. “I feel like it’s my duty. Ember and her family helped me, and it’s only right for me to help her.”

“If you say so.” I got the feeling that Skunk didn’t understand at all. “So, now what? Mr. Zepile, have you gotten all of your Jenny?”

“Of course.” He waved around some of the fake money. “Treasure is my specialty, after all.”

Skunk glanced at the sun in the sky and coughed.

“I want to dry off a little bit. I’m still all wet and sand. We’ll be heading out now.” He stared pointedly at Zepile.

“Sure. Good luck. I hope to see you in the next phase- although I might not be as nice next time!” he replied, with a little wave. I waved back. Hopefully later I could ask him a little more about Leorio, and perhaps Gon and Killua, if they were involved. 

The afternoon wasted away as Skunk and I negotiated with market-sellers to give us free produce, with the occasional ducking into shadows when we saw some people from our group. When I asked Skunk if he thought the two men from the beach would come after us again, he shook his head.

“No, they won’t. Trust me.”

I didn’t know how he could be so sure about that, but I decided not to press the issue further. “It’s almost night. Probably time for us to turn in... hey, where are we going?”

Instead of heading back to the inn which I had slept in, Skunk was leading us in the direction of the thick brush of trees, away from the main body of the town.

“Two nights left. We can’t just waste 10,000 Jenny on that.” Skunk pointed out. “Sleeping in the trees will be fine.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic about losing money, but something still didn’t sit right with me about spending the night in the darkness of the trees. It surely wasn’t going to be comfortable. 

And I was right about that- It wasn’t comfortable at all. I spent the night propped up against a thick tree trunk, huddled up in my sweater that did little too keep out the chills. It gave me little comfort that Skunk seemed to be sleeping perfectly fine in his own patch of grass. 

With the moonlight beaming down on me, I found it impossible to sleep, so I carefully got up and quietly padded out of the trees. 

The town was eerily quiet in the middle of the night, and very dark. I wandered for a bit, taking in the fresh ocean air, and examining anything that caught my fancy.

At a freshwater fountain, I rinsed off the locket, doing my best to remove the rust and buildup. Once it was all done, the finished product was revealed as a beautifully engraved pendant. I distantly wondered why Zepile found it worthless, it seemed plenty pretty to me.

I stuffed the pouch that was Merry’s talisman into the locket and snapped it shut. Done! Now I could protect it from damage. I slung the cool metal around my neck and let the locket rest against my heart.

The moon was so beautiful. I couldn’t remember ever getting a chance to appreciate the moon like this- certainly not with my amnesia, and I had always fallen asleep early when staying with Leorio. But this- the sight of the gleaming moon made me feel somewhat better, and eased some of the tension I had been feeling since the beginning of the exam.

Everything would be okay. I would become a Hunter, return to Ember, find Ging, and maybe, just maybe, I’d figure out what life I’d had before. I wanted, no, needed, to find that chunk that was missing, that piece of me that felt empty.

But what of that dream I had last night? It was just a dream, surely. But something about it unnerved me to no end. If it was only a dream, then why had it seemed so vivid and clear? And why did I have such a strange sense of foreboding? 

“You don’t need to remember” was what the dream-Ging said, before he dropped the vase that turned into all those spiders…

Spiders. I laid my back on the edge of the fountain to gaze at the night sky, letting my thoughts take over. That’s right, didn’t spiders refer to that Phantom Troupe I had heard about? The ones that were supposed to have been the cause of the Aspen explosion, the cause of Merry’s death and Ember’s anger, and the ones that Leorio and his friends had gone up against back in Yorknew. Based on Leorio’s descriptions, they seemed like a scary lot of people. I’d done a little research on them myself, but what I found on the internet seemed mostly hyperbolic, fabricated stories that I didn’t know what to believe. 

“I should probably go back now.” I whispered aloud to myself, sitting up on the fountain brim. After tonight, there was one more night left of the third phase- one more night left to survive.

When I at last ducked back into the cover of the trees and propped back up against my tree trunk, I was finally exhausted enough to fall into a deep, deep sleep.

Skunk awoke me by slapping me in the face.

“Ow! What was that for!”

Disoriented, I blinked up at the boy who was glaring at me furiously. For a moment I got a taste of what our attackers must have felt when going up against Skunk on the beach- he had managed to twist his young, innocent face into something scary.

“What were you thinking?” Skunk demanded. “It’s dangerous going out in the middle of the night! What if you collapsed again?”

“Huh?” That’s what he was all worked up about? “How did you know?”

“That doesn’t matter. Answer the question!” He pointed a finger at me and I winced back into the tree trunk.

“Sorry, sorry. It was just so uncomfortable I couldn’t sleep.” I admitted. “All I did was walk around for a little bit. It’s not like anyone was awake.”

“Look, those guys on the beach may not come after us anymore, but there's still thirteen other candidates who have a motive to attack us.” Skunk narrowed his eyes. “And it wouldn’t help me at all if you were struck dead, now would it?”

“I feel like you’re overreacting.” I sighed. “But I guess I see your point…”

“Whatever.” And just like that, it appeared Skunk was over it. “Nice locket.”

“Oh, yeah. I cleaned it up, see?” I held it in my hand and carefully pried the two sides open to show him. “Now this is safely inside.”

Skunk nodded and then stood up, stretching his arm a little. “Well, let’s go, then.”

“Where are we going?” I hopped to my feet and brushed dirt off of my legs. “You still need 10,000 Jenny, right?”

“That’s correct.” Skunk wrinkled his nose. “Actually, I would have all that I needed if it weren’t for you catching a fever and costing us the inn room.”

“I already apologized for that! But it’ll be easy to get 10,000 Jenny, right?”

“Maybe, but that’s only half the battle. We also have to keep the Jenny to ourselves and not let it get taken away from us.”

“That’ll be easy! You’re strong, and I’ve got my knife.” I said with false confidence. “So, are we going to get more treasure, or what?”

Skunk scrunched up his face. “We saw how well that turned out last time.”

“What do you mean? So maybe we got attacked, but at least we got the dagger, right?”

“You got injured though.” Skunk pointed to my hand. I glanced down to the injury- at this point I had almost forgotten that the dagger had cut my hand.

“So, are we not going to treasure hunt?” I covered my hand and whipped it out of sight. 

“We can try another method.” Skunk said. “The Treasure Hunter said that we can acquire the Jenny from some of the townspeople, right? So, we can try to ask around…”

The two of us stepped out of the safety of the trees and wandered back into the main town.

The energy of the town seemed different, though. While yesterday, there had been the peaceful, gentle, community feeling, now I got the idea that the townspeople were on edge. When Skunk tried to approach a woman holding a child, she squeaked and ran back into her cottage.

“I guess I should have expected this.” Skunk sighed, after a third failed attempt of trying to talk to someone. “Someone died, after all.”

“Isn’t the Hunter Exam so cruel?” I said. “The people in this town have nothing to do with us, and they’re forced to comply with the Hunter Association for this exam.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Maybe they were hired by the Association to allow it to take place here.”

“Still, that’s terrible, isn’t it? Someone was murdered and now these poor people are forced to deal with the aftermath. It’s cruel.”

“No one ever said that Hunters are good people.” Skunk muttered. 

Still, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that this situation was very wrong. 

“If no one wants to talk to us, how are we going to get that last 10,000 Jenny?” I wondered.

“We can always get it from someone else-”

“Absolutely not.” I cut him off. “Please, let’s avoid fighting.”

“I was only joking.” Skunk said, although his tone didn’t seem like it. “Well, unless you have any other ideas…”

I saw the fountain from the night before and walked over to it. In the daylight, it seemed much smaller, and the water a little dirtier. With a sigh, I plopped down on the rim and looked around.

“What are you doing?” Skunk sat down next to me, his feet dangling off a bit due to his height. I thought it funny how much shorter this version of him was, when compared to his real self.

“Just thinking. This is a good place for thinking.” I dragged my shoes around in the dirt. 

“Then I’ll think, too.” He said, and we sat in silence together for a few minutes.

That is, until the silence was broken by a scream.

Skunk and I immediately jumped to our feet, and before I knew it I already had out my switchblade. The scream seemed to be coming from one of the cottage houses, where a young woman was standing on her front porch with her hands clasped around her mouth.

“Excuse me, Miss, are you alright!” I yelled as the two of us raced to her porch. Since our presences had already chased everyone off of the street, it appeared that we were the only ones here to help.

Her eyes widened when she saw us, but her emergency must have been of great importance as she beckoned us over.

“Please help! It’s my cat!”

Cat? I looked around, but the streets were bare of all life forms, including felines.

“What’s happened to your cat?” Skunk prompted the woman.

She burst into tears. “Tinkles ran off!

“Tinkles?” I repeated incredulously, wondering what sort of name that was for a cat. Skunk nudged me in the arm and coughed. 

“Would you like us to help you find your- err, Tinkles?” Skunk asked, his tone shifting to a polite one that I had never heard from him. The sweet voice matched so perfectly with his child’s physique that I held back a laugh.

“Please, could you?” She begged us. “You are from that exam, right? I’ll even pay you Jenny! Please, please, bring back my Tinkles!” 

Skunk and I looked at each other. It seemed that the perfect opportunity to gain Jenny had fallen right into our laps.

“What does Tinkles look like?”

“He’s all white, with the prettiest blue eyes. But poor wittle Tinkles is deaf.” The woman mused. 

“Ah, I see.” Skunk said politely. “We’ll go and look for him now, so if you would stay put… Do you know which direction he went off in?”

“I’m not sure.” The woman pursed her lips. “I think she went near those trees?” She pointed to the clutter of trees where Skunk and I had spent the night. 

“Thank you, Miss. We’ll come back as soon as we can, alright?” I gave my most pleasant smile, and then all of a sudden Skunk and I were running towards the trees as if our lives depended on it.

“Woah- slow- down-” I huffed once we made it to the edge of the tree cluster, leaning against one of the trunks to catch my breath. “You’re so much faster than I am.”

“I know.” Well, this boy wasn’t very humble, was he?

“Skunk, do you have any experience catching cats?”

“I have a cat back home, actually.” Skunk smiled a genuinely warm smile that caught me off guard. He must really care for his cat. I was trying to imagine what sort of cat Skunk would have, and I could only picture a black kitten with a white streak to match Skunk’s hair. The whole mental image made me want to burst out laughing, but I held it in. “But a deaf cat will be a lot harder to lure out.”

“Let’s start looking, then.” Thanks to the light streaming in from the gaps between the trees, it seemed like we wouldn’t have too much trouble searching. “Shall we split up?”

“Keep your knife out.” Skunk said by way of agreement, then disappeared into the mass of leaves and wood. I reluctantly drew out the switchblade and let it rest in my hand. We were only looking for a cat- things shouldn’t get violent.

Unsure of where to start, I began to wander aimlessly, keeping my ears alert and my eyes peeled for a flash of white in the otherwise dull forest. Every once in a while Skunk and I would cross paths, our footsteps audibly cracking leaves (mine much more so than his), and Skunk would give the tiniest shake of his head and be lost again into the trees. 

And for a while we searched, with inconclusive results. The sun arched higher and higher into the sky, the moving shadows our only indicator of time passing.

“Oh.” I had run into Skunk again, and this time, we were both getting frustrated.

“Any luck?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope.” 

“Ah.” I took a seat on a wide tree stump, resting my feet. “This is hopeless. Maybe the cat didn’t come this way after all.”

“Wait.” Skunk held up a hand to shush me. “Do you hear that?”

There was a sound of rustling leaves from not too far away. I tensed, not wanting to make a noise, as Skunk carefully sidestepped in the direction of the sounds.

“Here, kitty kitty!”

I rolled my eyes. The cat was deaf, wasn’t it? But Skunk continued his ridiculous coaxing, slowly making his way towards a bush. 

Just as I was about to get up myself to go and help him, something small and slinky leaped out of the bushes and landed right into Skunk’s arms.

Amazed, I pushed off the stump to get a closer look at the creature entrapped in the boy’s careful arms. The white fur was dulled by dirt, but the animal’s bright blue eyes pierced through, observing me as I stepped over branches to get to Skunk.

“That’s Tinkles?”

“Yup!” Skunk scratched the cat behind its little ears, and Tinkles made a loud purring sound. “Alright, wittle Tinkles, let’s take you back to your mama.”

This time I couldn’t help but snort loudly in laughter. Skunk glared at me.

“What’s your deal?”

“You have a soft spot for animals, huh?” I laughed. “You’re talking just like the owner!”

And for the first time since I’d met him, Skunk blushed.

“I- no, I’m not.” But his words contrasted the soft affection he was currently bestowing on the meowing cat. “I’m just- you know…”

“It’s ok, it’s cute since you’re in that body.” I smiled. “Now, that’s something I’d like to see with your real self! So, your weakness is cats, huh?”

“Shut up!” Skunk muttered, and stormed away. I followed behind, unable to drop the little grin that had formed on my face. 

Back at the cottage, the woman nearly cried in joy as Skunk somewhat reluctantly handed over Tinkles. It seemed Tinkles didn’t want to leave, either, and the cat sunk its claws into Skunk’s shirt as the woman tried to pry Tinkles off.

“I promised you Jenny, right?” The woman said, once Tinkles was safely re-captured. “Here it is. Is 10,000 enough?”

Weren’t we lucky. I eagerly took the money, and Skunk and I said our goodbyes.

“With this, we perfectly have 100,000 each.” I said proudly, giving Skunk the red bills. 

“Don’t you find it suspicious how perfectly that worked out?” Skunk said as he pocketed the money. “I mean, how convenient that the cat went missing right as we walked by, and the woman was willing to pay exactly as much as I needed?”

I did find that suspicious, but considering the Hunter Exam so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if that, too, had been planned.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” I said definitively. “We’ve got the third phase in the bag!”

Skunk sighed in resignation, but I saw that the corners of his mouth were turned up.

“Yup.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing: I took a little re-read at some of the earlier chapters, and audibly gagged.
> 
> Again, being a new writer, there's some things that just flew over my head, and so I'm meaning to go back and do a few touch ups. Nothing drastic, just changing awkward sentences, phrasings, etcetera. Chapters that were only written a few months ago are already making me cringe. A lot of things need re-working. 
> 
> I've already written ahead, I suppose, about seven more chapters. There's some incoming things I had to do research on (by which I mean scouring the Hunterpedia) about Greed Island, the Phantom Troupe, and Nen in general. 
> 
> These are a few thoughts I've had. I'm not necessarily unhappy with the way things are going here, but I still regret some of my writing decisions earlier own. Hopefully things will be able to improve the more I learn about writing and such. It's been so long since my last creative endeavor, things feel all strange.


End file.
